Just thought you'd like to read this from October 31st:
Six earthquakes jolt North Texas
09:15 PM CDT on Friday, October 31, 2008
IRVING ? The numbers keep changing; emergency operators have now counted nearly 100 reports from people in 22 North Texas cities who felt the earth move over the past 24 hours.
The calls started late Thursday night as the first of 14 recorded geological events ? including earthquakes, tremors and aftershocks ? rattled the nerves in many households.
There have been six confirmed earthquakes near Irving, Grand Prairie, Euless and Dallas, the most recent one measuring 3.0 magnitude Friday afternoon at 4:01 p.m. near Grand Prairie, just seven minutes after a 2.6 magnitude tremor in Irving.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the first 2.6 magnitude quake happened at 11:25 Thursday night; 35 minutes later, the second quake struck, a 3.0 magnitude. Others occurred at 12:33 (2.6) and 2:58 a.m. (2.9) Friday.
No significant damage was reported.
News 8 received reports from residents across the area, including Irving, Euless and Bedford.
Julia Bustamente was up late downloading music on her computer in Euless when she heard a loud boom. "It felt like it could have been an explosion or a plane crash," she said. "I couldn't think of anything else in the world that could cause the world to vibrate."
"The whole building just shook; I don't know what it is," said a woman who called Irving 911 to report the tremors.
A man who called said he felt a "large rumbling." "My pictures [are] falling off the wall," he added.
"It's like the whole bed shakes," another woman told emergency dispatchers. "It feels like it's happening underneath my apartment, and it just happened again; it happened about 10 times."
University of Texas at Arlington professor Larry Standlee said these are the first earthquakes ever recorded in North Texas.
"There are just no faults active in this area, and there haven't been for probably the last 250 million to 300 million years," he said, calling the event "a very rare occurence."
USGS geophysicist Randy Baldwin says aftershocks could last several days. "There may be some that could actually be felt by people in the area," he said.
Seismologists are trying to determine whether natural gas drilling activities in the region have any link to the tremors.
"The Barnett Shale that they drill to and are working with is probably between 8 to 10,000 feet below the ground," Standlee said. "These earthquakes occurred quite a bit deeper ? 16,000 feet or more. So I'd say that the connection is very small."
Irving resident Christine Laughland said she was sleeping when the earthquake woke her up. She's from California and wasn't too shocked by the vibrations. But she couldn't say the same thing for her dogs.
"They were barking hysterically because it was their first one," she said.
Randy Owens, a Starbucks employee in Grand Prairie, said he didn't feel the earth shake, but said it was the buzz among his customers Friday morning. "Many were saying they were surprised they didn't feel anything," he said.
"If it hadn't occured in the middle of the night, I doubt anyone would have even felt it," UTA's Standlee said.
Other parts of Texas occasionally feel earthquakes.
An April 7 earthquake in southern Texas had a 3.7 magnitude.
A minor earthquake was felt by some people in Amarillo on March 30, 2002. The Amarillo area also recorded seven minor earthquakes in 2000.
The biggest quake on record in Texas was in 1931 near Valentine, Texas, southeast of El Paso. Estimated at magnitude 5.8, the quake toppled chimneys and caused severe damage to all buildings except wood-frame structures. The Valentine quake was also felt in parts of Oklahoma, New Mexico and Mexico.
WFAA-TV reporters Cynthia Vega and Darla Miles, WFAA.com editor Walt Zwirko, The Dallas Morning News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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