Seismology teams from SMU and the United States Geological Survey have presented a preliminary report regarding the recent earthquakes in North Texas.
The report stated that an earthquake’s epicenter found near the old Texas Stadium in Irving presented a presence of subsurface fault lines that extend from Irving into West Dallas.
According to NBCDFW, the initial results “reveal the quakes were relatively shallow and concentrated along a narrow two mile line which indicates a fault extending from Irving into West Dallas, running north-by-northeast from TX Highway 114 to Walnut Hill Road along the Trinity River.”
The information was provided by over twenty portable earthquake monitors which were deployed around the city of Irving by the SMU seismology team.
The findings were shared with the mayors of Dallas and Irving. January earthquake trends now seem to show a more refined patterned trend line rather than sporadic trends as stated earlier. The cluster pattern of quake trends were confined east and north of the University of Dallas. Fault lines that caused the quakes were measured to be two miles long and three-to-five miles deep, according to the WFAA.
The study is still in the beginning phase, but SMU seismologist Brian Stump said the initial findings are an important start to their investigation.
“We can begin studying how this fault moves – both the amount and direction of motion,” Stump said in a public statement.
In the statement, seismologists explained that the quakes were felt in far North Texas because of their relatively close proximity to the granite surface “basement” of the Fort Worth Basin.
“Those depths are considered relatively close to the surface in earthquake terms, however, which helps explain why people as far away as Plano feel even smaller, magnitude-2 earthquakes in the area.”
The recent findings are a strong start to the investigation. Heather DeShon, SMU seismologist, said their next step is to investigate what triggered the earthquakes, “examining factors both natural and man-made,” according to the WFAA.
“Sometimes what triggers an earthquake can be very small,” she said. “So all of these factors have to be considered when looking for that trigger.”
Some of the quakes were a quarter- to a half-mile from two dormant gas wells, DeShon said.
The preliminary findings are providing ideas as to what caused the fault to move.
“We want to explore the possible mechanism for these earthquakes,” said Dr. Stump.
The WFAA reported that the most recent quakes appear to be “diminishing over time” and have occurred along a fault line that can be traced. They stressed that it’s not possible to predict when and what magnitude the next quake will be.
“We can’t rule out that there won’t be a bigger earthquake, so that’s part of it — to think through that process,” Dr. Stump said.
