Posted: 03/12/2014 5:56 pm EDT Updated: 03/12/2014 6:59 pm EDT
huffingtonpost.com
A series of earthquakes in Ohio has led officials to order a local fracking operation to halt while state inspectors investigate whether the drilling is linked to the tremors.
Five earthquakes were felt by residents of Mahoning County in northeastern Ohio on Monday and Tuesday, bringing the total number of area earthquakes in the past several days to 11, local paper the Tribune Chronicle reports.
The U.S. Geological Survey pinpointed the epicenters of some of these quakes to be in the vicinity of seven oil and gas production wells in Poland Township, Ohio, that are owned by Houston-based company Hilcorp Energy, according to the Business Journal Daily.
On Monday afternoon, the Ohio Natural Resource Department ordered Hilcorp Energy to cease drilling operations so that state officials can take a closer look at whether the energy company could be triggering the quakes.