The one area that seemed to attract the most was a small town of Guy. Why was this spot hit so hard? Good question...and good mystery!
The Guy Earthquake Swarms
A small community just north of Little Rock, Guy wasn’t accustomed to drawing national attention. That all changed in 2010, when a series of relatively minor earthquakes shook the town. The first swarm struck in fall 2010, with most quakes registering under 2.0 on the Richter scale, meaning not everyone in town may have felt or even noticed the shaking. However, the swarms continued over the next two years and increased in magnitude, with one reaching as high as 4.7 in February 2011.
With the trembling becoming more noticeable, residents began to wonder if the quakes were a result of hydraulic fracturing techniques being used to drill for oil and gas in the area. The Arkansas Geological Survey was called out to investigate, and while the group noted that there is some evidence that fracking can cause minor earthquakes, they found no link between the drilling and these particular swarms.
Earthquake swarms aren’t entirely unusual in Arkansas. The state’s had a handful of them before, but none have reached the magnitude of those in Guy. Through 2013, over 500 quakes have rocked the town. As northeast corner of Arkansas was home to one of the country’s most violent swarms—the 1811-12 New Madrid earthquakes—the seemingly endless quakes have left some residents particularly on edge.
Seems to me that if this made me nervous or scared, moving to another locale would be a good idea. Know what I mean?
Coffee out on the patio this morning. Let's take a chance.
6 comments:
Before we moved here, we used to get little ones in our town from the Ramapo Fault. It's an odd feeling when it happens.
A very large area is affected by the New Madrid fault. Where I live is included.
Now we know they would neve admit that drilling or blasting for anything like oil or copper ect. If the area is already prone to quakes why take the chance. Just my uneducated thoughts.
See you on the patio
Hey Phyllis...
Even though I,ve never been in one, I can only imaginw what it must be like!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Hey Momlady...
Kinda like sitting on a time bomb, huh.
Thanks for coming over today.
Hey Jo...
I have to agree. Why take a chance?
Thanks for dropping by today, sweetie.
It wouldn't be easy to quite your job, sell your home, leave your friends and just move away, especially for natives of the area who have lived there all their lives and their parents and their grandparents. Now, moving there is another story. May not want to do that (grin). And that would be a reason that it may be hard to sell your home.
It has been said that Oklahoma is the most seismically active region in the world. Guess where we moved. I believe the edge of the New Madrid runs along somewhere in Oklahoma too, maybe the Arbuckles??
Post a Comment