Odd Earthquakes Not Letting Up In Central Arkansas

RED ORBIT
Central Arkansas has been hit with a series of earthquakes recently, more than 500 since September 20.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), most were hardly noticeable but one stood out prominently when it hit the Richter scale at a 4.0 on October 11.

Geologists can't say whether the quakes will end anytime soon.

Dr. Horton of the University of Memphis feels that the ample amount of earthquakes in this state is quite unusual.

"In the New Madrid Seismic Zone there's approximately 200 per year, so if we had that many in Central Arkansas in less than a month, something is going on," Dr. Horton told CNN's Sarah Hoye.

The problem is that part of central Arkansas isn't even part of the New Madrid Fault Zone, so researchers are trying to figure out what's causing all those earthquakes.

Although drilling for natural gas has been ruled out as a cause for the quakes, experts want to continue looking at salt water disposal wells, said Scott Ausbrooks, geohazards supervisor for the USGS. Disposal wells occur when drilling waster is injected back into the earth after drilling.