Where will the next big quake be? It may not be in California

Central and eastern portions of the U.S. have been suffering from a spate of earthquakes over the last few years, and the U.S. Geological Survey believes that human activity may be responsible for this uptick.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Geological Survey released a map of earthquakes that they believe have been caused by natural gas drilling or deep fluid injection wells.

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Of the states hardest hit is Oklahoma. The USGS report revealed that the state had more earthquakes of magnitude three or higher than even California in the same time span, a major increase.

While Texas, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Ohio have all seen an increase in earthquakes, they have not suffered the same amount of seismic activity.

The head of the USGS's National Seismic Hazard Project, Mark Peterson, says that this new data is very worrying.

"These earthquakes are occurring at a higher rate than ever before, and pose a much greater risk and threat to people living nearby," he said.

USGS officials believe that wastewater disposal in oil and gas fracking may be to blame. This process, officially known as hydraulic fracturing, involves a high-pressure blend of water and sand which goes underground and forces natural gas and oil to the surface.

The water is often forced deep underground and may be able to trigger faults that have not moved in hundreds or even thousands of years.

The number of earthquakes in Oklahoma in 2013 alone was 70 times greater than in any year before 2008, state geological officials reported.

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