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Study: 300 Earthquakes In Parker County Since December

RENO (CBSDFW.COM) - There have been more than 300 earthquakes reported in Parker County since December, according to just-published research conducted by an earthquake study team.

In preliminary findings released Wednesday, the team reported that the quakes show a complex fault system in the area near Reno and Azle, which started experiencing quakes for the first time in November.

The progress report from the SMU North Texas Earthquake Study said the relation of the quakes to two nearby waste-water injection wells remains a major question. Preliminary locations for the earthquakes show them occurring within one to two kilometers of the well sites.

The U.S. Geological Survey has stated wastewater disposal into deep geologic formations is a likely contributing factor to an increase in quakes. The USGS issued a joint earthquake advisory with the Oklahoma Geological Survey Tuesday, because of hundreds of temblors there.

No felt earthquakes have been reported in the Azle-Reno area since January 28, the report said. A 12-station network of new seismic monitors in the area though, combined with regional data, detected quakes as small as magnitude 0.

They occurred in swarms of hundreds at some times, and also went weeks with few to no quakes. The report cautioned that the results so far have not been peer-reviewed and could change after more analysis.

(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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