Earthquake Swarm in Arkansas Intensifies. Memphis, Tennessee could be epicenter for the next big one

reply to post by westcoast


Odd - appears things are frackering! Snap, Crackel - Hey it's my birthday - I like to celerbrate - but, I can do without the pop tonight - Really though - the instrument are looking way out there - very interesting, ponder ponder. ---- I don't think it can be good --- appears to me like things unzipping. Your thought?

reply to post by Anmarie96


I don't know enough to even guess at what it is doing, but it is scary to me. You, Robin, and so many others are fantstic people for what you all are doing and how much time and effort is going into trying to unravel everything going on!

And a very Happy Birthday to you!

reply to post by lasertaglover


Thanks - Very Much!

reply to post by Anmarie96


Happy Birthday - I hope things slow down soon so you can enjoy your day.

reply to post by Anmarie96


Happy birthday! I wish we could all give Annmarie a birthday gift of no more fracking earthquakes in Arkansas or anywhere else!

Ummmm.....crap. Another one in Texas,same spot. That almost doubles the quakes there for the past year.

Magnitude 2.5
Date-Time Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 06:31:59 UTC
Tuesday, March 01, 2011 at 12:31:59 AM at epicenter

Location 32.835°N, 100.827°W
Depth 5 km (3.1 miles) set by location program
Region WESTERN TEXAS
Distances 15 km (9 miles) NNE of Snyder, Texas
56 km (35 miles) NW of Sweetwater, Texas
126 km (78 miles) SE of Lubbock, Texas
408 km (254 miles) NW of AUSTIN, Texas

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 10.7 km (6.6 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters NST= 12, Nph= 21, Dmin=113.5 km, Rmss=1.81 sec, Gp= 61°,
M-type="Nuttli" surface wave magnitude (mbLg), Version=3
Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)


Event ID usb0001mhw


So I did a search for that area. I expanded it out to a 50km radius circular area. In over 30 years there have only been 19 quakes mag 2.5 or greater.

PDE 1977 06 07 230120.40 33.06 -100.75 5 4.0 MLGS ... ....... 19
PDE 1977 11 28 014050.50 32.95 -100.84 5 3.5 MLGS ... ....... 6
PDE 1978 06 16 114654.20 33.03 -100.77 10 5.3 MLGS 5F. ....... 15
PDE 1979 07 05 010501 32.95 -100.89 4 2.7 UKTUL .H. ....... 8
PDE 1982 04 26 083147.79 33.02 -100.84 5 2.8 LgGS ... ....... 13
PDE 1982 11 28 023648.51 33.00 -100.84 5 3.3 LgTUL 4F. ....... 11
PDE 2006 08 12 104909.67 32.90 -100.89 5 2.8 LgGS .F. ....... 6
PDE 2008 01 29 102453.24 32.90 -100.84 5 3.3 LgGS .F. ....... 1
PDE 2008 07 18 173109.40 32.89 -100.84 5 2.7 LgGS ... ....... 1
PDE 2008 07 18 203841.78 32.85 -100.77 5 2.7 LgGS ... ....... 7
PDE-W 2010 01 27 045933.05 32.90 -100.83 5 3.1 LgGS .F. ....... 0
PDE-W 2010 03 28 210723.16 33.06 -100.74 5 2.7 LgGS ... ....... 19
PDE-W 2010 04 12 002005.97 32.94 -100.88 5 2.8 LgGS ... ....... 6
PDE-W 2010 08 08 011238.07 32.90 -100.85 5 3.4 MwRMT 2FM ....... 2
PDE-W 2010 08 25 020514.32 32.95 -100.86 5 2.8 LgGS ... ....... 6
PDE-W 2010 08 29 124836.61 32.91 -100.92 5 2.6 LgGS ... ....... 8
PDE-W 2010 10 09 074227.63 32.93 -100.89 5 3.1 LgGS ... ....... 6
PDE-W 2010 10 26 065629.79 32.92 -100.85 5 3.1 LgGS ... ....... 3
PDE-Q 2010 11 01 091058.42 33.00 -100.82 5 2.8 LgGS ... ....... 11


LINK

For anyone interested in looking at Texas...you can see it HERE

You'll want to pull up this station: Nacogdoches, TX

reply to post by jadedANDcynical


No one, including yourself, has fed me anything. The most incredible fallacy of so many posters here on ATS is the indiscriminate use of posting links to such & such to "prove" a point. I can prove to you in only minutes, that you can find a source to back any point of view you may have, on any subject, especially any controversial topic. I did not mean "your jury" or anyone other person's jury, I meant my OWN. I'm AM NOT convinced FRACing is the cause of the swarm.

You said, "So to say that the jury is out is either being uninformed, or trying to dis-inform. Do some research, read, and form conclusions of your own rather than regurgitate the semi-digested pap you're being fed on a daily basis."

You then proceed to cite sources which back your own argument; so are these conclusions your own? Or are they the "regurgitated, semi-digested pap" you found somewhere on the subject. If you keep doing research, I'm sure you'll find as many examples that refute your argument just as well by other "organizations."

Why do you not post links to opposing points of view from your own???

The fact of the matter is that the NMZ and the "Reelfoot Rift" is an area of EQ activity, and it has been for a very, very long time. I'll start with THAT FACT before I go chasing any "intuitions" I may have as to why there may be increasing numbers of EQ's in such an area. There are many other reasons this fault may be coming to life that have nothing to with FRACing. How do I know that your mission is not to "dis-inform" me of those other possibilities?

This is a great thread; the work here has been intense, and I have followed it from the beginning. But, from the beginning, we have all been force-fed a regurgitated "intuition" that this uptick in activity is to be blamed on FRACing, when really...other possibilities exist. How convenient! Sorry I'm NOT willing to play along, and I have done MY HOMEWORK too...

Good points Odd1out. I think there might very well be a connection, however when looking for what will lead to the next "big one" in the NMSZ it is not proven that fracing will or even can play a role.Before everyone starts slamming me I do think the practice should be halted in this region. Simply because we know fracing can cause some level of EQs and IMO the experts do not understand the dynamics in the region well enough to asses the risk. The first responsibility is to not create a risk that is unwarranted by the benefit. Well until the risk of loss of life and property is able to be better understood it is impossible for the benefit to out weigh the undefined risk.

first a swarm in arkansas, then a swarm in california.... now a swarm in texas?

Ive followed this post pretty much all of the way through and I dont remember seeing this but has anyone on here ever heard steam hammer, cool water into very hot pipes sounds like explosions and shakes like hell maybe the fracking depth muffels the sound but not the vibration any idea on the temps where the water has been injected just a thought

reply to post by standrewscross


I don't want anyone to get the idea that I agree with the practice of FRACing, or that I have ruled it out as a possible contributing or even causative factor to the Guy swarm.

There are plenty of areas all over the world that are presently experiencing an uptick in EQ activity, and plenty of past occasions of increased EQ activity in many other areas where FRACing CAN NOT be cited as a possible factor. It's the one-sidedness that I oppose mainly...

The road is NOT closed ahead, or is it???

Robin's plea for a moratorium is well-founded...I propose the quakes will NOT stop when/if the FRACing does. The seismo patterns are the reasons I state my, er, ass-umption.

What swarms is Texas? There was only a couple and they were VERY small.

reply to post by Ear-Responsible


i missed out ''beginnings of'' in that sentance

since texas has had 4 2.5+ over the course of a year, then 2 2.5+ in the space of 2 hours... i think this is a good cause for suspicion, lets see if we have any more in texas today

reply to post by odd1out

There are plenty of areas all over the world that are presently experiencing an uptick in EQ activity, and plenty of past occasions of increased EQ activity in many other areas where FRACing CAN NOT be cited as a possible factor.

And can you demonstrate this 'uptick' or is this just a feeling?

Irrespective of whether fracking causes earthquakes is DOES poison drinking water and that alone is sufficient reason for them to STOP.

reply to post by odd1out

The fact of the matter is that the NMZ and the "Reelfoot Rift" is an area of EQ activity, and it has been for a very, very long time. I'll start with THAT FACT before I go chasing any "intuitions" I may have as to why there may be increasing numbers of EQ's in such an area.

It would appear to have escaped your notice then that these earthquakes are not appearing in those areas? Indeed there is no increasing number of earthquakes in the NMSZ, the activity is all happening between Guy and Greenbrier, and this area just happens to have injection wells. Now I am not saying these are the cause, but it seems very likely.

Just in:

Date/Time UTC,Latitude,Longitude,Magnitude,Depth(Km),Location
2011-03-01T10:56:20.000Z,35.24490,-92.31370,3.3000,4.9000,Arkansas

reply to post by kennylee


I can tell you this that when I am looking at the area I use an 8km radius. That is around 78 square miles and is more than enough coverage.



There are still the odd ones at the north west of that area but the concentration is in about a 2.7 mile radius of the centre of the cluster so Robin is correct it is about 20 square miles (23 actually)

Off topic, but Happy Birthday Anmarie!

reply to post by Robin Marks

Here's an easy way to determin if injection is causing the quakes. Stop.

Wierd huh. Is that a problem? Is it a problem to stop and observe?

Yes Robin it is a BIG problem because the fat cats would get no money for six months and anyway I think 6 months is not long enough. To see if it stops I also believe you would need to fill the wells with concrete or some filler to fill the current gaps. This may mean they could not be re-opened and then the fat cats would have nothing. (Oh and you would not have cheap gas but then is cheap gas worth the aggro?)