Wednesday, June 4, 2014

[Geology2] USGS investigating cause of 'rare' earthquake




GOLDEN – Seismologists with the United States Geological Survey are trying to determine what caused a 3.4 magnitude earthquake northeast of Greeley Saturday, and area scientists say they haven't seen a quake of that magnitude in at least 40 years.

The quake happened around 9:30 Saturday night. Many 9NEWS viewers called and emailed to say they felt the ground shaking.

"You can have earthquakes this size just about anywhere in the country," Paul Earle, a seismologist with the USGS, said. "One of the possibilities is that this is a naturally occurring earthquake due to stresses that have naturally occurred in the earth's crust."

Many 9NEWS viewers asked if fracking had anything to do with the earthquake. Earle said earthquakes like this have been caused by underground disposal of fracking waste water, but it is far too early to determine if that was even going on in the area of the earthquake. A team of seismologists is investigating.


Video available here at source:

http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2014/06/01/usgs-investigating-cause-of-rare-earthquake/9848385/
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Posted by: Lin Kerns <linkerns@gmail.com>



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