英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

英倫翻譯圖文轉自

http://iservice.ltn.com.tw/Service/english/english.php?engno=899632&day=2015-07-21

The more oil and gas companies pump their saltwater waste into the ground, and the faster they do it, the more they have triggered earthquakes in the central United States, a massive new study found.

越多的石油和天然氣公司將他們排放的廢棄鹹水灌入地下，以及他們排放的速度越快，他們就會引起美國中央地帶越多的地震，一項大規模的新研究發現。

An unprecedented recent jump in quakes in America’s heartland can be traced to the stepped up rate that drilling wastewater is injected deep below the surface, according to a study in journal Science that looked at 187,570 injection wells over four decades.

美國心臟地帶的地震次數最近出現前所未有的躍升，這個問題的原因可以追溯於大量增加的鑽井廢水被灌入地表深處，根據一項刊載於《科學》期刊的研究指出，這項研究在過去40年來檢視了18萬7570口被灌注廢水的井。

It’s not so much the average-sized injection wells, but the supercharged ones that are causing the ground to shake. Wells that pumped more than 12 million gallons of saltwater into the ground per month were far more likely to trigger quakes than those that put lesser amounts per month, the study from the University of Colorado found.

在被灌入平均值廢水的井，地震發生的次數並沒那麼多，但在被灌入超量廢水的井，就會造成地表震動。每月被灌入地下超過1200萬加侖廢棄鹹水的井，遠比那些灌入較少量廢棄鹹水的井，更容易引發地震，這項由美國科羅拉多州大學所做的研究發現。

Although Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and other states have seen increases in earthquakes, the biggest jump has been in Oklahoma. From 1974 to 2008, Oklahoma averaged about one magnitude 3 or greater earthquake a year, but in 2013 and 2014, the state averaged more than 100 quakes that size per year, according to another earthquake study said. Since Jan. 1, the U.S. Geological Survey has logged more than 350 magnitude 3 or higher quakes in Oklahoma.

雖然德州、阿肯色州、堪薩斯州和其他州已觀測到地震次數的增加，但最大幅度的上升是在奧克拉荷馬州。從1974到2008年，奧克拉荷馬州平均每年有一個3級或更大的地震，但在2013和2014年，該州每年有逾100個這種等級的地震，根據另一個地震研究說。自從1月1日起，美國地質調查所在奧克拉荷馬州已記錄到超過350個3級或更高等級的地震。

Studies have linked the increase in quakes to the practice of injecting leftover wastewater into the ground after drilling for oil and gas using newer technologies, such as hydraulic fracturing. （AP）

研究把地震的增加與將剩餘廢水灌入地下作連結，這些廢水是在使用較新的技術，像是液裂技術，鑽取石油和天然氣後的殘餘。（美聯社）