OKLAHOMA CITY — The state commission that regulates Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas industry ordered some injection well operators to reduce wastewater disposal volumes Monday after at least a dozen earthquakes hit an area north of Oklahoma City in less than a week.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission said it was implementing a plan that affects five wastewater injection wells operating within 10 miles of the center of earthquake activity near Edmond, a northeast suburb of Oklahoma City. Among the recent quakes to hit the area was a 4.2 magnitude temblor on New Year’s Day that caused minor damage but no injuries.

“We are working with researchers on the entire area of the state involved in the latest seismic activity to plot out where we should go from here,” Oil and Gas Conservation Division Director Tim Baker said.

Oklahoma has become one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world, with the number of quakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater skyrocketing from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 800 in 2015. Many of the earthquakes are occurring in areas where injection wells pump salty wastewater – a byproduct of oil and gas production – deep into the earth.

At least three earthquakes were recorded Monday in the Stillwater area, about 50 miles northeast of Edmond. The U.S. Geological Survey said the largest was a magnitude 3.2 quake.

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