The Weather Channel
Originally Posted: Jan. 21 2015
North Texas is in the clutch of a surprising cluster of earthquakes, leaving many searching for a root cause.
In 2008, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex suffered its first earthquakes in recorded history, and since then, as the Dallas Morning News reports, there have been over 120 minor quakes in the area.
The Dallas Morning News says that the United States Geological Survey (USGS) will most likely ramp up the earthquake risk for Dallas-Fort Worth, according to agency chief Mark Petersen. Petersen heads the USGS National Seismic Hazard Project in Golden, Colorado.
Those living in the central and eastern U.S. have felt five times as many earthquakes annually from 2010 to 2013 than they did between 1970 and 2000, and scientists have connected some of these quakes to hydraulic fracturing, well known as fracking.
Fracking itself rarely causes earthquakes, but the way the oil and gas industry disposes of the materials used in fracking has been scientifically shown to cause earthquakes, NPR reports. Crews inject the fluids used during fracking into disposal wells thousands of feet underground. If these fluids come into contact with a fault, the reaction can cause a tremor.
Petersen says the USGS is working to understand the recent uptick in earthquakes in the U.S. and how it relates to human activities.
The Dallas Morning News reports that two quake clusters in recent years — one near the DFW Airport and the other in Cleburne, Texas — have been linked to fracking.
On Jan. 20, 2015, four more earthquakes struck Irving, Texas, all between magnitude 2.0-3.0, NBC DFW reports. Since October, at least three dozen earthquakes have struck the region.
While all of the quakes in North Texas have been minor magnitude-wise, their location and timing are piquing scientists’ interests, in public agencies and universities alike.
Members of the Southern Methodist University seismology team spoke at the Irving City Council last week and told the public about its research on the current swarm.
In his remarks, SMU Geological Sciences Chair Brian Stump also detailed a brief history of the North Texas quakes and how geologists assess seismic disturbances. READ MORE or Watch Video