Geological Expert Calls Recent Rash of Earthquakes 'Coincidence'
By: Jocelyn Tovar, KARK 4 News
Updated: August 24, 2012
Earthquakes have rocked three different areas of the Natural State in the last week, with the most recent shaking Blytheville late Thursday night.
The Blytheville quake was a magnitude 2.2 on the New Madrid fault line, which is not very large but comes on the heels of six others in Greenbrier this last weekend.
Arkansas Geological Survey Geo-Hazard Supervisor says this is not unusual because the New Madrid fault line averages one earthquake almost every other day.
What triggered the six quakes in Greenbrier is more than likely the residual effects of injection wells that were shut down last year used in fracking, according to Ausbrooks.
That activity can continue periodically for as many as seven years after those wells are shut down.
But Ausbrooks says there is no link between all the recent earthquake activity.
"This is a seismically active state, they're episodic, which means they're no-notice events, they can occur at anytime and sometimes they just happen to occur at the same time," he says. "It was a coincidence."
The largest magnitude of these recent earthquakes was only 3.3, so while people felt it, it wasn't strong enough to cause any major damage.
Ausbrooks also said it's still a good idea to have an emergency preparedness kit ready in case a big one does hit.
The Blytheville quake was a magnitude 2.2 on the New Madrid fault line, which is not very large but comes on the heels of six others in Greenbrier this last weekend.
Arkansas Geological Survey Geo-Hazard Supervisor says this is not unusual because the New Madrid fault line averages one earthquake almost every other day.
What triggered the six quakes in Greenbrier is more than likely the residual effects of injection wells that were shut down last year used in fracking, according to Ausbrooks.
That activity can continue periodically for as many as seven years after those wells are shut down.
But Ausbrooks says there is no link between all the recent earthquake activity.
"This is a seismically active state, they're episodic, which means they're no-notice events, they can occur at anytime and sometimes they just happen to occur at the same time," he says. "It was a coincidence."
The largest magnitude of these recent earthquakes was only 3.3, so while people felt it, it wasn't strong enough to cause any major damage.
Ausbrooks also said it's still a good idea to have an emergency preparedness kit ready in case a big one does hit.
