Today, December 17 2011 , another earthquake occurred in the north panhandle of Texas.
Again, in the middle of a giant drilling / pumping / injection well site. The screenshots below are from google earth using the coordinates of the earthquake as the search point.
For me, the giveaway on most of these “man made” earthquakes (induced seismicity) is the depth. Usually at around 3-5 miles. Always remember to look up the earthquake epicenters on google earth.. sometimes you really get an answer as to the cause.
In this case, its fairly obvious what the culprit is — drilling or injection well pumping — induced an earthquake along the edge of the craton.
read more about the craton here:
here are the screenshots:
Here are the earthquake statistics:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc00077pe.php
Magnitude 3.2 – WESTERN TEXAS
2011 December 17 14:46:58 UTC
Earthquake Details
- This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
| Magnitude | 3.2 |
|---|---|
| Date-Time |
|
| Location | 32.802°N, 100.857°W |
| Depth | 5 km (3.1 miles) |
| Region | WESTERN TEXAS |
| Distances | 9 km (5 miles) NNE of Snyder, Texas 56 km (34 miles) NW of Sweetwater, Texas 127 km (78 miles) SE of Lubbock, Texas 408 km (253 miles) NW of AUSTIN, Texas |
Here are several previous posts I have put together on Fracking/drilling/dormant volcano/nuclear plants having earthquakes recently: