Hi Don,

That's kind of interesting. So the $64,000 question is "does the oil extraction in San Ardo cause the constant series of earthquakes which occur in that area?" Then we need to look further when asking this question. If the oil extraction is causing slippage in San Ardo, does it affect other area's nearby, along the San Andreas Fault, such as Parkfield and Greenfield?

You wanna bet the oil refinery people are going to emphatically say NO. If the scientist could prove that it did, would he say so? Not likely.

This would of course be an area where diplomacy would win out in consideration of the low population of the general area. An occasional most likely small quake hardly is of any interest to either side and does not necessarily put a large segment of the public at risk. Therefore, it is not worthy of a study which requires a financial investment, nor would one want to aggravate the oil industry either.

Petra