Two earthquakes detected near Mansfield Wednesday afternoon may have shaken some North Texas residents.
The two earthquakes detected just after 1 p.m. were estimated to have magnitudes of 3.0 and 3.2, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and people reported feeling mild shaking during the earthquakes. Mansfield is approximately 55 miles southwest of downtown Dallas.
The earthquakes occurred approximately 6 minutes apart and 4 to 5 miles outside Mansfield.
Until 2008, very few earthquakes were heard in North Texas, according to researchers at Southern Methodist University who map the state's faults.
Since then, more than 200 earthquakes ranging in magnitude from 1.6 to 4.0 have been reported in the region. Many earthquakes are associated with the treatment of wastewater from oil and gas drilling.
In December, a magnitude 2.2 earthquake struck near Northlake, a small town about 72 miles northwest of Dallas. In February 2023, people in North Texas reported feeling a magnitude 4.3 earthquake that occurred hundreds of miles from Dallas-Fort Worth near Harmley in West Texas.
In West Texas, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake occurred near Midland in 2022. U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Jonathan Teitel said the quake was likely caused by oil and gas activity.
