There’s now been a sixth earthquake near a UK fracking site

There’s been a sixth earthquake in a week around a UK fracking site. But, of course – there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Please disperse and move along.

Fracking chaos

Preston New Road, near the village of Little Plumpton in Lancashire, is at the centre of a row over fracking. Cuadrilla has permission to drill the site for shale gas, which has pitted it against local people. In July, the government officially gave Cuadrilla the go-ahead to start extracting shale gas. The decision was met by more protests from locals. Then, a judge jailed three activists (who another judge promptly freed). But after a court case, bad weather and protests stopped it, Cuadrilla finally began work on Monday 15 October. This was met with more protests.

Then, the earthquakes began.

As The Canary previously reported, the British Geological Survey recorded five tremors near to Preston New Road. These were between Thursday 18 and Saturday 20 October. The strongest of these was a magnitude of 0.3. But on Tuesday 23 October there was another one in the afternoon. It was the strongest so far, with a magnitude of 0.4.

A gif for every occasion

Social media reacted to the news with some rather apt gifs:

ANOTHER #FRACKING EARTH TREMOR! That’s 6 strikes, Cuadrilla. How many until you’re out?? #WeSaidNo #BanFracking pic.twitter.com/XLJZGxNyCC

— Lady_Claire 🍉 (@Lady_ClaireEU) October 23, 2018

No, I think they’re currently busy trying to fudge the rules once more, to the #fracking industry’s advantage pic.twitter.com/3CbV3Zzxth

— Lady_Claire 🍉 (@Lady_ClaireEU) October 23, 2018

https://twitter.com/WorAgFrack/status/1054787607543058434

As some people pointed out, fracking firms have to comply with the government’s “traffic light” system for seismic activity:

It only applies when fracking is taking place. As ITV News reported, Cuadrilla stopped work altogether for the day. This is actually more than the traffic light system says it had to do for a 0.4 tremor. Worried about bad publicity?

Again, Cuadrilla didn’t impress Twitter:

This one happened whilst @CuadrillaUK were fracking so I wonder what the excuse will be this time around? https://t.co/sJPr7klUzv pic.twitter.com/EuMeiNMLOS

— Russell Scott (@RussellScott1) October 23, 2018

Perry is busy with her PR team concocting a Myth Bluster of #fracking excuses. Right, @claireperrymp?! #CareerBeforeCommunities pic.twitter.com/MLwZ5AWK90

— Lady_Claire 🍉 (@Lady_ClaireEU) October 23, 2018

But others noted that behind the funny gifs is actually a very serious issue:

https://twitter.com/Minnierolfe1/status/1054821241100664832

Join the #FrackQuake!

As The Canary previously reported, academics and even a former top civil servant have warned of the earthquake risk; stating that minor tremors like the ones at Preston New Road could lead to bigger seismic events. Not that Cuadrilla seems to care. It previously told The Canary that the earthquakes show its systems work to the “highest standard”. No, really – it did.

So, do you enjoy extra greenhouse gas emissions? Polluted drinking water? Earthquakes? How about the possibility of low birth weights, premature births, or even, perhaps, an increased risk of breast cancer? If the answer’s yes – then join Cuadrilla’s #FrackQuake! You too can have hell on Earth unleashed just for a quick profit!

Get Involved!

– Support Frack Free Lancashire and Preston New Road Action Group.

Featured image via The Canary and Cuadrilla – YouTube