OK - when I moved to north Texas, I knew that I was entering 'Tornado Alley', but I didn't realize that I was moving to 'Earthquake Central'! On Halloween, there were two earthquakes in the Dallas/Fort Worth area (one in Irving where I work, and one in Grand Prairie which is the next suburb over to the east of my house). One of them was a 2.5 magnitude and the other one was a 3.0 magnitude! My friend Erin said that she woke up when the Irving one happened and she thought it was thunder, but it wasn't raining. Aaagghhh! Scary! I guess it's only appropriate that it happened on Halloween!
Here's the full article!
Minor Earthquakes Shake N. Texas
Last Edited: Friday, 31 Oct 2008, 9:24 AM CDT
Created: Friday, 31 Oct 2008, 6:24 AM CDT
DALLAS -- -- Several minor earthquakes gave some Texas and Oklahoma residents an early Halloween scare, but no injuries or damage were reported.
A 2.5-magnitude quake at 11:25 p.m. Thursday near Grand Prairie started a series of other small earthquakes in that Dallas suburb, followed by a 3.0-magnitude quake at 12:01 a.m. Friday in nearby Irving, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Irving police received 911 calls from about 25 people saying they had felt the quakes, but there were no reports of injuries or damage, Officer David Tull said Friday morning.
A 3.1 quake was reported about 11:30 a.m. Thursday near McCloud, Okla., some 180 miles north of the Dallas area, with no reports of injuries or damage, according to the USGS.
Although researchers are not sure if a fault line runs along that area, they consider the earthquakes in the two states to be separate events because they occurred so far apart in distance and time, said USGS geophysicist Jessica Sigala.
"Texas sees earthquakes every once in awhile, so it's very new to us even," Sigala said. "We hope we'll figure out exactly where and why this happened. East of the Rocky Mountains, fault lines are hard to distinguish because earthquakes don't happen as often."
The U.S. Geological Survey has been able to determine fault lines -- such as the San Andreas Fault in California, the most quake-prone state in the continental U.S. -- usually after earthquakes occur, Sigala said.
Although Texas is better known for its hurricanes and tornados, some earthquakes have shaken the state since the late 1800s, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The most recent quake in Texas was in April, shaking a city south of San Antonio with a 3.7 magnitude.
Seven minor earthquakes were recorded in Amarillo in 2000, and another minor one hit that Panhandle city in 2002.
2 comments:
Does this make you miss Toledo?
You know we have had earthquakes in Toledo. One happened while I was laying in bed and I actually though someone sat on the bed that is how noticeable it was.
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