Earthquakes in Ft. Worth! (Dallas, Austin: city hall, insurance, to buy)

[CptnRn]

OMG! Another reason to live in Austin.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/fort-...st8838359.html

[texastrigirl]

Hate to disappoint you but they have been recorded in Austin as well. Google seismic data austin tx and this website comes up...

Texas Earthquakes - UTIG

An excerpt from it

Q: What is the largest earthquake in Texas in recorded history?

A: The largest earthquake in Texas history had a magnitude of about 6.0 and occurred on 16 August 1931 near the town of Valentine, 220 km southeast of El Paso. It caused severe damage to adobe and brick structures in Valentine, and was felt by Texans as far away as Dallas. Texas' second largest earthquake occurred on 14 April 1995, also in west Texas. It had a magnitude of 5.8, and was felt in Austin.

[Exiled Texan]

Isn't there a big fault line around Balcones just north of Camp Maybury?

[tourbound129]

Originally Posted by Exiled Texan

Isn't there a big fault line around Balcones just north of Camp Maybury?

There is a fault line but from the same website that Texastrigirl posted:

[SIZE=5]Q:[/SIZE] What sort of earthquakes should we expect from the Balcones Fault?
[SIZE=5]A:[/SIZE] Probably none. The Balcones Fault is the boundary between the central Texas hill country to the west of Austin and the flatter plains regions to the east. About 10 million years ago this was an active fault, but it is not active any longer. A "fault" simply represents a boundary between two sections of the earth's crust that move or slip relative to one another. When slip is ongoing, the fault is active. After the slip stops, the fault remains. Thus, in Texas and elsewhere the land is riddled with faults which no longer present any significant earthquake risk.

[SIZE=5]Q:[/SIZE] Has an earthquake occurred in Austin in historic times?
[SIZE=5]A:[/SIZE] On 9 October 1902 an earthquake with magnitude about 3.9 occurred about 15 km south of Austin near the town of Creedmoor; this event was felt in Austin. However, there were no felt reports in Austin from an earthquake with magnitude of 3.1 that occurred in Manor (15 km east of Austin) on 1 May 1873. Every few years Austin residents in tall buildings may feel the effects of large, distant earthquakes, such as the 19 September 1985 Michoacan, Mexico earthquake, and the 14 April 1995 earthquake in west Texas.




This isn't the first recent earthquake for DFW. A very similar earthquake to this one occurred in DFW less than a year ago on October 30, 2008.

[CptnRn]

Interesting information on the inactive fault lines. There is a pretty large one running underneath the East side of the State Capital, then continues south through downtown and runs below the new City Hall.

[texastrigirl]

Yeah I had to research it when I moved from Austin to Seattle and was advised to buy earthquake insurance. I was like "what in the H&*^?". Made me feel better that they can be anywhere, even in good old TX. I do have to tell you though...I DO NOT miss tornado warnings and watches.

[txstate]

Originally Posted by Exiled Texan

Isn't there a big fault line around Balcones just north of Camp Maybury?

Yes the balcones escarpment from wiki that runs approximately from Del Rio, San Marcos to Mt Bonnell in Austin all the way up to Lake Waco Dam but its not active.