Arkansas quake swarms rattle nerves, raise questions

[Donger]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/26/us/ark...html?hpt=hp_t3

(CNN) -- Three dozen earthquakes over the past week in central Arkansas shook shelves, rattled nerves and prompted speculation about their cause.

"Are they being being triggered or are they natural? That's something we don't know," Arkansas Geological Survey scientist Scott Ausbrook said Sunday.

The chances of so many temblors in the region in such a short time are "Powerball kind of odds," Ausbrook said. "What was unusual was to have four different areas in the state to be active in the same week."

More than two dozen quakes recorded since Wednesday have been centered north of Morrilton, Arkansas. The strongest, on Wednesday and Thursday nights, had reported magnitudes of 3.5 and 3.4.

"Right now all we've gotten reports of is shaking stuff and rattling shelves, but people are definitely noticing them," Ausbrook said.

Measuring the magnitude of eathquakes

Solving the mystery is important because of suspicion the quakes could be related to natural gas exploration nearby using hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, he said.

"The best probability at this point is they are natural, but we can't rule out the possibility that there may be a relationship," Ausbrook said.

A swarm of hundreds of earthquakes centered near Guy, Arkansas, ended two years ago after state regulators imposed a moratorium on new injection wells in the area.

Two operating injection wells, just outside of the moratorium area, are about 8 miles from some of the quakes. "I can't say at this time there's not a connection, but given the distance from those wells, it would be pretty amazing," Ausbrook said.

One natural explanation would be a fault running through the area that makes a sharp turn, where "you would expect more strain to accumulate," Ausbrook said.

[L.A. Chieffan]

Originally Posted by Chief Roundup

Guess some dumbasses never heard of New Madrid.

lol, yeah, everybody that lives near it. hahaha

[sd4chiefs]

I could never live somewhere that is prone to earthquakes.

[Bwana]

Originally Posted by Munson

I blame it on global warming.

I'm going with Aliens.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

If people in Arkansas would start pleasuring their livestock this crap would never happen.

[Mile High Mania]

There is the New Madrid fault line and another one in eastern AR that they found in 2011... The media will focus first on fracking, just can't be natural.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by KC Tattoo

It's the faults fault.

This is pretty clever. Heh.

[Bump]

The New Madrid fault line is nothing to **** with

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by Bump

The New Madrid fault line is nothing to **** with

It's dead, Jim.

[Frazod]

Historically, New Madrid tends to go every 300 years or so. Last series of major quakes was about 200 years ago.

Let's hope we've got another 100 years until the next one, because it will be the worst thing ever and I don't want to be around for it.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

There is the New Madrid fault line and another one in eastern AR that they found in 2011... The media will focus first on fracking, just can't be natural.

Speaking as a working member of the insurance industry, if you live close to the New Madrid Fault (Northeast Arkansas, SE MO, West TN, SW KY, South IL), you better get Earthquake insurance. The insurance company I work for still writes earthquake insurance in California, but we're getting rid of all of our Tennessee earthquake policies.

It obviously doesn't pop as often as the faults in CA and Alaska, but when it does, it'll be huge. The soil in the west is softer, and sandier so over a short distance the damage is mitigated. The New Madrid region is pretty much rock, it might not go for the next 200 years, or it might go tomorrow, but when it does, it'll be big.

[Psyko Tek]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

Conspiracist says its the anti resources obama administration trying to frame fracking. Anyone wanna bet against me?

so not only weather magic, they do Geomancy also
the B.P.R.D. is earning their keep

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Speaking as a working member of the insurance industry, if you live close to the New Madrid Fault (Northeast Arkansas, SE MO, West TN, SW KY, South IL), you better get Earthquake insurance. The insurance company I work for still writes earthquake insurance in California, but we're getting rid of all of our Tennessee earthquake policies.

It obviously doesn't pop as often as the faults in CA and Alaska, but when it does, it'll be huge. The soil in the west is softer, and sandier so over a short distance the damage is mitigated. The New Madrid region is pretty much rock, it might not go for the next 200 years, or it might go tomorrow, but when it does, it'll be big.

Other than enriching the insurance industry, I don't really see what point that would serve. A quake on the order of the last major ones to hit would be bigger than every other natural disaster to hit this country combined.

The insurance industry would collapse along with the nation.

[LiveSteam]

prayers sent

[T-post Tom]

The UN is broadcasting mind-control signals thru the St. Louis arch. This is upsetting the earth's geomagnetic balance & causing the earthquakes. The locations and magnitudes of the earthquakes can be predetermined with a special algorithm known only to Scott Pioli.

[Psyko Tek]

Originally Posted by T-post Tom

The UN is broadcasting mind-control signals thru the St. Louis arch. This is upsetting the earth's geomagnetic balance & causing the earthquakes. The locations and magnitudes of the earthquakes can be predetermined with a special algorithm known only to Scott *****.

you so naive, the arch is a bog tuning fork, you hit it with the right frequencies things happen