Federal report links quakes, disposal wells

With all due respect to the fine people and the great state of California, there are some things on which Texas has no wish to share a close relationship with the Golden State.

Add a propensity for earthquakes to that list.

Still, federal seismologists say North Texas is as likely as some parts of California to experience an earthshaking event.

For many of us, only the comparison is news, not the quakes themselves. We’ve felt them.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, nine earthquakes measured 3 or more on the Richter scale from November 2014 through 2015, the scientists said. The biggest was in the Irving-Dallas area, a 3.6 earthquake on Jan. 6, 2015.

The new assessment of earthquake risk was released Monday by the U.S. Geological Survey.

It suggests that deep injection wells for the disposal of wastewater from Texas oil and gas drilling are the cause.

That’s not news, either, although the relationship is murky because most injection wells have had no nearby quakes.

Still, many in the oil and gas industry refuse to acknowledge any close connection.

The Texas Railroad Commission, the state’s oil and gas industry regulator, has been reluctant to draw a causal link.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Federal report links quakes, disposal wells."