Unusual Dallas Earthquakes Likely Linked to Fracking, Expert
Says CREDIT: Southern California Earthquake Data Center. Three
unusual earthquakes that shook a suburb west of Dallas over the
weekend appear to be connected to the past disposal of
wastewater from local hydraulic fracturing operations, a
geophysicist who has studied earthquakes in the region says.
Preliminary data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) show the
first quake, a magnitude 3.4, hit at 11:05 p.m. CDT on Saturday
a few miles southeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)
International Airport. It was followed 4 minutes later by a
3.1-magnitude aftershock that originated nearby. A third,
magnitude-2.1 quake trailed Saturday's rumbles by just under 24
hours, touching off at 10:41 p.m. CDT on Sunday from an
epicenter a couple miles east of the first, according to the
USGS. The tremors set off a volley of 911 calls, according to
Reuters, but no injuries have been reported. Not a coincidence
Before a series of small quakes on Halloween 2008, the Da