Cuadrilla halts fracking at UK site after tremor

Cuadrilla has paused gas fracking for an 18-hour period as a precaution at its Lancashire site following a small tremor.

The 1.1 tremor on the Richter scale on Monday morning was the third one in three days, Cuadrilla said, lthough the company assured that the tremor was so small it could not be felt at the surface.

A spokesman for the company said: “This is the latest micro seismic event to be detected by the organisation’s highly sophisticated monitoring systems and verified by the British Geological Survey (BGS). This will be classed as a ‘red’ event as part of the traffic light system operated by the Oil and Gas Authority but as we have said many times this level is way below anything that can be felt at surface and a very long way from anything that would cause damage or harm.”

The British shale gas company also said that the well’s integrity had been checked and verified.

Fracking in the UK is opposed by environmentalists and green groups claiming that the extraction of more fossil fuel goes against the country’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the fight to prevent climate change.