SHAKEN

  

          By Aaron Soloman,12

 

 

 

Recent earthquakes rattle North Texas

 

Unlike California Texas is not known for earthquakes. Tornadoes are our catastrophe of choice. Lately, however, Texas has given Cali a run for their money.

 

On January 6th, for example, the area around the old Texas Stadium in Irving was hit by a magnitude 3.6 earthquake.  Before that there had been 12 earthquakes in the previous 7 days, 35 earthquakes in the past month and 50 earthquakes in the past year.

 

As of now, there have been no serious injuries or significant amounts of damage. Some school districts across the area have been practicing earthquake drills every week for preparation. Local homeowners are worried that the ground underneath is becoming increasingly unstable and not the earthquakes themselves. The city of Dallas has conducted several studies and made preparations in the event of a major earthquake in the city.

 

According to Ms. Tillery, acclaimed BA science instructor, earthquakes are a natural phenomenon.

 

“Earthquakes are caused by the shifting of continental plates. They can move on top of one another while moving sideways, or they can just move sideways while on the same level,” she said.

 

Just a few inches of this movement is what causes an earthquake.

 

BA Senior Reyes Garcia experienced the unusual seismic activity during a recent visit to Irving.

 

“My aunt & uncle invited us to their house in Irving. While I was there, we felt the ground shake. I didn’t know what it was until my aunt told me & my parents,” he said. “It was like a 2.0 earthquake.

 

The cause of these unusual Texas quakes is mostly still a mystery. Some seismologists and others believe that “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing could be the cause of these tremors. Fracking is the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth.  Others believe that the Texas drought may be responsible.  Some have even come to the conclusion that the implosion of Texas Stadium in 2010 is to blame. The bottom line is that scientists really don’t know if there is a human cause of these earthquakes.

 

“It’s too early for us to say that we don’t see any connections yet,” said Robert Williams, a coordinator with the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program in Golden, Colorado. “We don’t want to rule anything out at this point.”