Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America; December 1995; v. 85; no. 6; p. 1888-1895
© 1995 Seismological Society of America
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Davis, S. D.
Right arrow Articles by Frohlich, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation

The 9 April 1993 earthquake in south-central Texas: Was it induced by fluid withdrawal?

Scott D. Davis, Paul A. Nyffenegger and Cliff Frohlich

U.S. Geological Survey and Center for Earthquake Research and Information The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152
Institute for Geophysics and Department of Geological Sciences University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78759

Abstract

An earthquake that occurred 9 April 1993, about 80-km south of San Antonio, is the largest earthquake known (mbLg = 4.3) in south-central Texas in historic times. The earthquake was felt over a 4000-km2 area, and modified Mercalli intensities were as high as VI at a gas production facility near Fashing, Texas. Similar, smaller events have occurred since 1973 at three sites near Fashing, Pleasanton, and Falls City, Texas. We propose a list of nine yes-no questions to assess whether a sequence of earthquakes may have been induced by fluid withdrawal. The criteria suggest that at least two sites (Fashing and Pleasanton) had earthquakes that were induced by fluid withdrawal related to ongoing oil and gas production. An alternative possibility is that these events are the southwesternmost examples in a band of weak, natural seismic activity between 135 and 240 km from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and extending from this region east to the Texas-Louisiana border. In addition, some injection occurs at all three sites, although the volumes of fluid injected at Fashing and Pleasanton are low enough as to make injection an unlikely cause.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Bulletin of the Seismological Society of AmericaHome page
T. Dahm, F. Kruger, K. Stammler, K. Klinge, R. Kind, K. Wylegalla, and J.-R. Grasso
The 2004 Mw 4.4 Rotenburg, Northern Germany, Earthquake and Its Possible Relationship with Gas Recovery
Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, June 1, 2007; 97(3): 691 - 704.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1995 by the Seismological Society of America.