Tracking Earthquakes in Texas

October 23, 2015

Solid Earth & Tectonic Processes

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation in June 2015 authorizing $4.47 million in funding for the TexNet Seismic Monitoring Program, an initiative led by the Bureau of Economic Geology. TexNet will enhance the ability of the state to gather informa­tion about subsurface seismic activity by placing seismometers throughout the state and analyzing data resulting from any future seismic events.

The mission of TexNet is to provide transparent access to data and information regarding the understanding of earthquake activity in Texas, both natural and potentially induced by human activity. TexNet will acquire and install at least 22 permanent seismometers in key locations, augmenting the 16 existing seismometers currently in place in Texas. Another 36 portable seismometers will be staged in bureau facilities across the state, ready to rapidly deploy to investigate key future earthquake activity.

TexNet’s goals are to monitor, locate and catalog seismic activity with magnitudes of 2.0 and larger, and to improve the state’s ability to rapidly investigate ongoing earthquake sequences in Texas. The funding will also support objective research that should provide the residents of Texas with answers to many of their important questions about earthquake activity in the state.