Gov. Sam Brownback has asked the director of the Kansas Geological Survey to lead a task force to develop a plan for increased earthquake activity possibly related to Kansas oil and gas activities.

The Republican governor on Monday named Rex Buchanan to lead the task force, which will meet in April in Wichita. The task force will study whether human activity is causing an increase in minor earthquakes in Kansas.

Kansas has seen increased fracking for oil and gas extraction in recent years in southern counties. The region is also seeing an increase in the number of small earthquakes that scientists have said could be caused by the returning of waste fluids back into the ground during the process.