Join Us in North Texas Tonight for Forum: ‘What’s Behind the North Texas Quakes?’
![Lynda Stokes is the mayor of Reno in Parker County, where dozens of medium-sized earthquakes have been recorded in an area that used to be quake-free.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/dentonfracking/20141022231932im_/http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/files/2014/01/Lynda_Stokes-300x200.jpg)
Doualy Xaykaothao / KERA News
Lynda Stokes is the mayor of Reno in Parker County, where dozens of medium-sized earthquakes have been recorded in an area that used to be quake-free.
What’s behind the earthquakes in North Texas?
StateImpact Texas and KERA will host a free public forum to explore the issues at 7 p.m. tonight, June 18, at the Azle High School Auditorium.
North Texas has the largest onshore natural gas field in the state, and some experts believe it may be the largest in the country. So when a swarm of earthquakes hit the cities of Azle and Reno beginning six months ago, local residents started asking questions. Scientists have linked the disposal of drilling wastewater used in fracking to earthquakes in Texas and other parts of the country. Now seismologists are studying the quakes in Parker and Tarrant Counties to monitor where the earthquakes occur, when and why.
What’s Behind the North Texas Quakes? A KERA/StateImpact Texas Discussion will be moderated by KERA Senior Reporter Doualy Xaykaothao, who has covered major earthquakes in Japan, Indonesia and Thailand. The panel discussion will include state Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, Reno Mayor Lynda Stokes, SMU Associate Professor of Geophysics Heather DeShon, and StateImpact Texas reporter Mose Buchele, who’s covered the oil and gas industry for many years. Audience questions will be moderated by StateImpact Texas reporter Terrence Henry.
The details:
What: What’s Behind the North Texas Quakes? A KERA/State Impact Texas Discussion
When: Wednesday, June 18, 7 to 8 pm
Where: Azle High School Auditorium; Map: 1200 Boyd Road – Azle, TX 76020
Cost: Free and open to the public
Over the last several years as several Texas communities have found themselves suddenly prone to earthquakes, StateImpact Texas has focused on what the science says on this phenomenon and the impact the quakes are having. Here are some of those stories from StateImpact Texas and KERA News:
- Here Are 9 Studies Linking Quakes and Drilling Activity in Texas
- Man-Made Quakes Get a Hearing at Texas Legislature
- There’s Been Hundreds of Small Quakes in North Texas Since December
- Exploring the Science Behind Man-Made Quakes in Texas
- How Oil and Gas Disposal Wells Can Cause Earthquakes
- What’s Causing Texas Earthquakes? SMU Study Explores Injection Wells From Drilling
- Meet The Unlikely Character At The Center Of The North Texas Earthquake Debate
We hope you can join us on June 18th in Azle. Read more about the links between drilling activity and earthquakes here.