Scientists from SMU, The University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University found that the majority of faults under the Fort Worth Basin are sensitive to changes in stress, which could cause them to slip. The good new is: None of the faults shown to have the highest potential for an earthquake are located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
Though the majority of the faults identified on this map have not produced an earthquake, understanding why some faults have slipped and others with similar fault slip potential have not continues to be researched, says Heather DeShon, SMU seismologist and study co-author who has been the lead investigator of a series of other studies exploring the cause of the North Texas earthquakes.
“The SMU earthquake catalog and the Texas Seismic Network catalog provide necessary earthquake data for understanding faults active in Texas right now,” she says. “This study provides key information to allow the public, cities, state and federal governments and industry to understand potential hazard and design effective public policies, regulations and mitigation strategies.”
Read more at SMU Research.
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Comprehensive study maps regional seismic faults
While quakes in North Texas have died away since 2015, researchers hope to use what they’ve learned while compiling the Fort Worth Basin fault map to explore the causes of earthquakes across the state.