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TexasTowelie

(111,287 posts)
Wed Jan 7, 2015, 01:49 AM Jan 2015

Update: USGS now confirms 7 quakes in Irving, Dallas on Tuesday

Update at 11:20 p.m.: And it’s Lucky Number Seven!

Says the U.S. Geological Survey, we end the day (fingers crossed) with another minor temblor, this one a 1.6-magnitude at 11:02 p.m. close to most its siblings, along the Elm Fork of the Trinity River near the old Texas Stadium site.

Update at 10:20 p.m.: So … make that six quakes confirmed today in North Texas.

The fifth, per the U.S. Geological Survey, occurred a 1.7-magnitude quake at 9:54 p.m. near Denton Drive and W. Northwest Highway in Northwest Dallas. The sixth followed a few minutes later: a 2.4-magnitude temblor at 10:05 p.m. on the University of Dallas campus.

At least they’re getting smaller?

Read more: http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/01/north-texas-rattled-by-quake-estimated-to-be-in-the-mid-3-magnitude-range-per-usgs.html/

[font color=green]The most severe measured a 3.6 magnitude. Does this mean that Texas will slide into the Gulf of Mexico?[/font]

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Update: USGS now confirms 7 quakes in Irving, Dallas on Tuesday (Original Post) TexasTowelie Jan 2015 OP
Updates: USGS now confirms 9 quakes in Irving, Dallas in 18 hours Divernan Jan 2015 #1
This kind of makes me happy that I'm not living in Irving anymore. TexasTowelie Jan 2015 #2
SCIENCE! excringency Jan 2015 #3
No, the clay we have down here on the coast kentauros Jan 2015 #4

Divernan

(15,480 posts)
1. Updates: USGS now confirms 9 quakes in Irving, Dallas in 18 hours
Wed Jan 7, 2015, 04:18 AM
Jan 2015

The latest being a 3.1 magnitude at 12:59 a.m.

Update at 1:20 a.m. January 7 : Another one!

The USGS has confirmed a 3.1 magnitude temblor in the Irving area that occurred at 12:59 a.m.

The quake is the ninth in the last 18 hours. It is centered near Highways 114 and 183 and Loop 12.

Update at 12:20 a.m. January 7: Early Tuesday morning we asked the U.S. Geological Survey to check on reports of an earthquake felt in Northwest Dallas around 7:30 a.m. At the time we were told one couldn’t be found, but if it turned up they’d post to their earthquake map. Well, it just showed up, which means we actually had eight quakes on Tuesday.

Says the USGS, it was a 2.3-magnitude temblor at 7:37 a.m. And you’ll never guess … oh, all right, it was near all the others, across Northgate Drive from the University of Dallas campus. Near the old Texas Stadium site.


And while the article quotes one official that there's no fracking/wastewater disposal in the area of the quakes, there's an interesting response in the comments section to the OP link.
Dr. Craig Pearson, a seismologist with the Texas Railroad Commission, says in a statement sent to The Dallas Morning News that “there are no oil and gas disposal wells in Dallas County. And I see no linkage between oil and gas activity and these recent earthquakes in Irving.”



And from the comments section:

Dr. Pearson's remarks are disingenuous. It may be true that there are no waste-water disposal well-heads located in Dallas County proper, but there is a waste-water injection well head located at 635 and 121 right outside DFW airport like maybe 20 feet west of the Dallas/Tarrant line. Unless Dr. Pearson is maintaining that waste-water at 10k feet below the surface somehow "knows" not to cross the county line, his representation that there are no wells in Dallas County is factually untrue. In addition, anyone who has seen a map of the location of disposal wells in North Texas knows there is quite literally an ocean of such wells due west of Dallas.

I'm sure Dr. Pearson is well aware of the robust scientific literature connecting injection wells to artificial earthquakes which is presumably why he's brought it up. But such wells need not be located in the political jurisdiction of a county in order to affect the geology of that county.

Fracking involves the injection of millions of gallons of water and sand into wells and there is quite a bit of evidence linking the practice to low-level earthquakes. Dr. Pearson's statement that he "sees no link" between the Irving quakes and "oil and gas activity" is deeply misleading and frankly irresponsible. The fact that there is insufficient evidence at the moment to establish a causal link does not mean that such a link does not exist.

We have 173 gas wells drilled in the Eagle Ford shale here in Dallas County of which 30 are currently producing. Virtually all of these are located along the 161 corridor just to the west of Irving.

Dr. Pearson is an employee of the Texas Railroad Commission - a publicly elected commission that regulates the oil and gas industry in Texas. As you might guess the members have for decades been enthusiastic oil and gas industry promoters, not regulators. At the risk of being cynical, I believe Dr. Pearson, along with Dr. Stump, should publicly disclose any honoraria or consulting contracts and all payments received from the oil and gas industry in connection with their academic activities, if any. SMU should also publicly disclose the amount of underwriting its Geology department receives from oil and gas industry sources and the associations of its board of directors so the public can better assess the academic integrity and independence of their remarks
.

TexasTowelie

(111,287 posts)
2. This kind of makes me happy that I'm not living in Irving anymore.
Wed Jan 7, 2015, 05:15 AM
Jan 2015

I don't know how my cat would have behaved with all of the tremors.

excringency

(105 posts)
3. SCIENCE!
Wed Jan 7, 2015, 02:05 PM
Jan 2015

You do realize that by using science and logic to make your point you have exposed yourself as one of them there dad-burned-lib-burr-ells don't you?

kentauros

(29,414 posts)
4. No, the clay we have down here on the coast
Thu Jan 8, 2015, 03:10 PM
Jan 2015

will keep Texas stuck in place. That stuff sticks to everything!

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