Small earthquakes detected at fracking site in Lancashire

Tremors detected less than one week after work starts

Small earthquakes have been detected near the site of a major fracking operation in Lancashire.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) recorded tremors in the area on Friday, less than a week after the energy firm Cuadrilla began hydraulic fracturing to extract shale gas.

The BGS said the seismic activity its experts discovered near the Little Plumpton site was “not unexpected”. It said fracking was “generally accompanied by microseismicity”.

A spokesman for Cuadrilla said engineers were not fracking at the time the tremors were felt. The company also said the kind of activity was “well within” safety thresholds.

“The microseismic events recorded were extremely low and well within the green light threshold and confirm that the monitoring system is working to the highest standard,” said a spokesman.

“We take the monitoring and regulation of seismicity seriously, with daily reports sent to the regulators.”

The magnitude of tremor measured by geological experts on Friday was 0.3, a level considered “amber” by the BSG. Hydraulic fracking is supposed to “proceed with caution” with seismic activity at this level.

Only tremors above 0.5 – the threshold for a “green” warning – would lead to a halt in the operation.

Fracking only began at the Lancashire site on Monday after a legal bid to block Cuadrilla from launching work in Little Plumpton, near Blackpool, was rejected by the High Court.

The judge said there was “no evidence” to support environmentalist campaigner Bob Dennett’s claim work at the site posed more than a “medium risk”.

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, said the ruling as “bitterly disappointing” and described fracking as a “dirty, dangerous industry”.

Back in 2011 a series of small earthquakes at a separate site in Lancashire were linked to fracking.

The British Geological Survey found it “highly probable” that test drilling had led the tremors.