Fracking 'should resume'

US government geologists have reported that the number of earthquakes in the central United States rose "spectacularly" near where oil and gas drillers fracked.

The average number of earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater in the US mid-continent - an area that includes Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas - increased to six times the 20th century average last year, scientists at the US Geological Survey said in an abstract of their research.

Tony Bosworth from Friends of the Earth has told ITV News that instead of fracking, the Government should be looking for 'cleaner fuel alternatives'.

Dr Christopher Green, director of GFrac Technologies has told ITV News that tremors caused by fracking can be detected before the process of fracking commences, and could be 'preventable'.

I am currently at a fracking site in Lancashire. There is fear about potential earthquakes caused by the method. As an aside, England has had two earthquakes in the last 4 days.

According to the British Geological Survey, on Sunday an earthquake in Cumbria, 50 miles from here, measured 2.0 on the Richter scale.

Simon Walker, the Director General of the Institute of Directors, has welcomed today's report on fracking - the process of extracting natural gas from shale formations:

The UK's biggest business lobbying group, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has welcomed today's report on fracking in the UK:

The Blackpool branch of the Green Party has called for a moratorium on drilling at the Bowland basin site near Blackpool, where there were two earthquakes in April and May 2011. It released this statement in response

Fracking comes from the term hydraulic fracturing and is a process used to extract natural gas from the ground. This video explains the process and was produced by Cuadrilla Resources, the company that drilled the sites in Blackpool that caused two earthquakes in April and May last year.

Environmental groups contest some of the claims in this video. You can read their views here and here.

Andy Atkins, Executive Director of the environmental charity Friends of the Earth, has told The Guardian that the government-commissioned report into fracking was too narrow in its scope as it only addressed earthquakes:

Large earthquakes are extremely rare in the UK, but not unknown. The British Geological Society has produced this interactive timeline. Here are some facts about earthquakes in the UK:

• The largest earthquake on record was in 1931 and had a magnitude of 6.1
• 20 to 30 earthquakes are felt by people each year
• Magnitude 4 earthquake happen roughly every two years
• Research suggests magnitude 6.5 is biggest earthquake possible

• The most damaging earthquake was in the Colchester area in 1884. 1,200 buildings suffered damage.
• To put it into perspective, Japan's recent tsunami was caused by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake