In 2016, a 5.0 magnitude earthquake hit the small town of Cushing, Oklahoma, severely damaging the town. Cushing isn’t the type of place that’s supposed to have such a problem with earthquakes. Until about 2009, they only had one or two a year. But in the last few years, tied to an increased use of wastewater disposal (a by-product of the oil industry) the number of earthquakes has risen dramatically, and now Cushing, along with much of Oklahoma, shakes hundreds of times a year.
Cushing is a major hub of American oil — known as “the pipeline crossroads of the world,” the Keystone pipeline and many other major pipelines run beneath it, and above ground, the town stores tens of millions of barrels of oil in its tank farms. Oil is the town’s economic lifeblood, and so the big quake, and the question of who to hold responsible for it, caused real division between neighbors.
In this episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch, reporter Sandy Tolan goes to Cushing to find out how the earthquakes impact a town built on oil.
This story was produced by Jamie York and Sophie McKibben.
Find us on the web at pbs.org/frontlinedispatch
Capturing ‘American Voices’ in a Year of Turmoil
COVID-19 & the Medical Supply Crisis
Introducing: NOVA Now
The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden
Making "The Choice"
The Transparency Project: John Bolton
The Transparency Project: Yusef Salaam
The Transparency Project: Rudy Giuliani
The Transparency Project: Valerie Biden Owens
The Transparency Project: Carol Moseley Braun
The Transparency Project: Mary Trump
A Mother & Her Newborn Separated by COVID-19
Essential and Unprotected
Bribing Doctors, Making Millions
Maria Ressa, Duterte & the Fight for the Free Press
Race, Police & The Pandemic
United States of Conspiracy
Life & Death in the Bronx
A Midnight Rescue
Covering Coronavirus: Indian Country
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
FRONTLINE: Film Audio Track | PBS
American Masters: Creative Spark
PBS Washington Week with The Atlantic - Full Show
Inside NATURE on PBS
The War | PBS