Texas Patriot
Collection of news stories, comments/observations on events directly affecting American politics & society.Archive for Resources
Another Minor Earthquake In N Texas
“A small earthquake rattled houses in Cleburne and surrounding cities Tuesday, but caused no damage or injuries.”
The article I’m taking this from stated that this was the FOURTH earthquake for this area in the past year. When I researched this recently, only 2 were on file with the Institute for Geophysics at UT down in Austin, and the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey website). So . . . where did those other two come from? The article didn’t expound. (bummer)
We’ve gone from never having had one, in all of recorded history, to now having 3 (4 according to the article). The first occurred this past October, and now the 2 latest quakes took place a little over 2 weeks apart!
Thankfully they were all small in scale, and didn’t do any damage. But the big question on my mind is, WHY? Why are having them? Something must be causing them. The only activity affecting that deep would be the intense drilling going on all around the Metroplex now.
And please don’t misunderstand me, I am not against drilling. That is unless it was going to cause some serious damage to our ecological system or certainly to our people. (God forbid)
The article I’ve quoted from here, and linked to, says unequivocally that the quakes aren’t due to the drilling (RIGHT)
Well, if that’s true, then what on earth COULD be causing it? (I’m still leaning toward the drilling.) Common sense tells us there is definitely a reason for the earthquakes ocurring. Someone really needs to find out soon.
I imagine we’ll see more earthquakes getting closer together. And I’m afraid that we’ll start to see some stronger ones that actually do damage, before they find out (or admit ) the cause.
Mild or not, the very idea of earthquakes occurring where they haven’t occurred before (and I’ve been in Fort Worth all my life) gives me a sense of unease that this is a very bad sign. I am SO hoping I’m wrong.
Earthquakes In Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex
We had an earthquake today in Cow Town (Fort Worth). It was centered around Euless but felt as far West as Fort Worth. And there was an aftershock as well. Witnesses said it scared the heck out of them.
It was mild, a 3.3 on the Richter scale. But when you’re talking about a loud sonic BOOM! followed by the furniture shaking about—it follows that should unnerve a person pretty quick.
We also had one recently this past October. The Metroplex is not an earthquake area.
The largest earthquake in Texas’ history was near Valentine in 1931 (Valentine is SE of El Paso). That one destroyed most of the brick buildings but left the wood frame houses intact.
When I went looking for info on Texas earthquakes I found conflicting info on the Valentine quake. One report states that quake had a richter reading of 5.80, another said it was a 6.0. And that there was another strong one registering 5.8 which occurred much later in 1995 (also occurring in West Texas) and was felt all the way in Austin. (This from the Institute for Geophysics at UT at Austin.
Looking over the excellent records kept by the Institute For Geophysics, I was very surprised to find that Texas has experienced MANY earthquakes over the years, though mild, causing little damage and not taking any lives (except for the bizarre incident where a Mexican man who’s adobe hut collapsed in on him across the Border).
Here’s the number of recorded earthquakes that UT at Austin gives by area of the state that registered at a 3.0 or greater:
West Texas—53
Panhandle—30
Note that there have not been any (stress NOT any) recorded quakes in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area until this past October 30th 2008. It was registered at 3.0 on the Richter. Today’s (May 16th 2009) clocked in at 3.3 and was in the same area as the one from this past October: Euless, Bedford, Irving, Fort worth, and Dallas.
When I told my mother about our latest earthquake, she asked me if all the drilling they’re doing around here for oil and gas could’ve caused it. THAT is a very good question. And it’s been asked before according to the UT at Austin FAQ article.
Q: Does drilling for oil and gas cause or trigger earthquakes?
A: Research carried out by UTIG scientists suggests that earthquakes in some parts of Texas may be induced by the pumping of fluids at oil and gas fields, or by the injection of fluids to dispose of chemical wastes. The earthquakes in the Fashing-Pleasanton area southeast of San Antonio are almost certainly caused by or triggered by pumping; such earthquakes also seem to occur in the Texas Panhandle near Snyder, Texas.
We know that over pumping of water from an underground well can cause the ground to collapse inward in an area because the filler is gone.
There is a lot of drilling activity going on around Fort Worth since the Barnett Shale was discovered and rights granted to oil companies to offer land holders proceeds from the production, if they’d allow drilling. But there’s a whole lot more to come. They’ve just been getting geared over the past couple years.
The landman (landsman) I spoke to said the shelf sits on a humongous area stretching roughly 5,000 sq mi (or more) and covering at least 17 counties. He added that the sweet spot is downtown Fort Worth.
One article suggests that it may be the largest onshore natural gas reserve in the entire USA.
So, if the Barnett Shale does turn out to be the biggest deposit yet found in these United States, what will be the outcome of extensive drilling? Could drilling be the reason that an area that has never had an earthquake in recorded history, suddenly has two (3.0, 3.3) within 7 months of each other?
We’ll find out as time goes by, and it all plays out.
Resources
Earthquake Seismology; Institute For Geophysics, University Of Texas At Austin: http://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/eq/compendium/earthquakes_contents.htm
Earthquake FAQ, Texas Earthquakes; Institute For Geophysics, University Of Texas At Austin: http://www.ig.utexas.edu/research/projects/eq/faq/tx.htm
Historic Earthquakes; Earthquakes Hazards Program, USGS (United States Geological Survey: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/?region=Texas
Texan Earthquake Information; Earthquake Hazards Program, USGS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1931_08_16.php
Minor Earthquake Rattles North Texas; DFW News: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Minor-Earthquake-Rattles-North-Texas.html
Barnett Shale; Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnett_Shale
Texas Earthquake Information; USGS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/?region=Texas
Several Small Earthquakes Rattle Texas, Oklahoma; FOX News: (October 31, 2008: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,445568,00.html
Washington Prepares Us For YET ANOTHER Bailout Donation
In a story released earlier this afternoon, by our local affiliate here in Fort Worth, we receive the news (care of Rahm Emanuel) that we will have to donate yet again to the failing bank situation.
This, of course, is because the ginormous amount of funds we’ve already given them–TWICE–was not nearly enough to keep the executives in the lifestyles that they’ve come to expect. So, we must, yet again, donate to institutions that will probably be liquidating soon anyway. What is that old term . . . ‘throwing good money after bad . . . ‘?
Yeah, so Mr. Emanuel is preparing us for another huge stimulus for the banks. I don’t understand why CNN can’t fund the bailout–since they’re so pro-tax-the-people-blind.
OH, Emanuel did make a point to SOFTEN the blow and sell the idea of the bailout addendum by promising that they will NOT nationalize the banks after all. (ALERT: Ocean front property for sale in New Mexico, Arizona, and Arkansas–CHEAP at only $3 trillion per day–I mean acre.)
Please do not miss this little gem of a story, because it will probably be played down by the main stream media. I hope that at least Fox will be on it and get this news out to the people. There are still MANY out there that really have no idea about what is going on in our world. The truth is EVERYwhere, if you want to accept it. But that’s up to you.
Omni National Bank Falls
Out of Atlanta, founded in 2000, total assets $980 mil just a few months ago.
The Dallas branch of Omni Nat’l was taken over this past Friday and it’s assets seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bank had been in Dallas almost 2 years.
This bank had a branch in Houston a year ago with $217, 000 in deposits.
Quote from the Dallas Business Journal:
“FDIC filings show Omni had $573 million in total loans at the end of 2008 but had a high percentage of nonperforming assets. Nearly $200 million in nonperforming loans were on the books at that time.”
(Not to be confused with the Omni Federal Credit Union)
Tarrant County Burn Ban Lifted
Yeeehaaa 🙂
2009 Press Releases
Burn Ban Lifted
- Stay with the fire at all times while it is burning.
- Only burn from sun up to sun down. No Burning At Night!
- Have water available.
- Do not burn outdoors if the the wind speed is higher than 20 MPH.
- Consider your neighbors.
- Be extremely careful.
- Contact your local fire department before you conduct outdoor burning.
- Only burn brush, tree limbs, grass clippings and leaves. No trash or building materials.
Content Last Modified on 3/18/2009 8:13:31 AM
For more information: Please contact Marc Flake, Public Information Officer at 817-884-2535
http://tcweb.tarrantcounty.com/egov/cwp/view.asp?a=733&Q=471579
Texas Patriot 
You must be logged in to post a comment.