WASHINGTON, January 7 (Sputnik) — The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported seven earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the Dallas, Texas area, where hundreds of fracking wells are located.
The earthquakes ranged from 2.6 to 3.6 on the Richter magnitude scale with an epicenter around Irving, part of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to statistics on the USGS website.
According to seismologists at Southern Methodist University in Texas, there has been a significant increase in earthquakes in the Dallas area since October 2008. In addition to the seven earthquakes in Irving on Tuesday and Wednesday, four other earthquakes greater than 2.5 on the Richter scale have occurred in the area within the past month, according to USGS.
The cause of the earthquakes remains unknown. Hundreds of fracking wells are located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Some research has indicated a correlation between fracking – a process to extract oil and gas by shooting water, sand and chemicals deep into underground to break shale formations – and small earthquakes.
