by Wesley Harris
Northwest Louisiana experienced another weak earthquake Monday morning after an earlier tremor last Friday.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 2.6 earthquake centered about 12 miles from Coushatta and 6.8 miles east of Pleasant Hill at about 10:58 a.m. Monday.
The relatively minor tremor follows an earlier earthquake that occurred about 3:00 p.m. Friday, about seven miles from Coushatta. The quake had a magnitude of 3.4.
No damage was reported from either earthquake.
Eight minor earthquakes occurred in early March just a few miles from Coushatta in Red River Parish. The relatively mild tremors were felt 75 to 90 miles away, but no damage was reported.
One of the March quakes registered a magnitude of 4.9, setting a new record for an earthquake on the Louisiana landmass. The only larger earthquake was recorded offshore in the Gulf, about 90 miles south of Grand Isle, with a magnitude of 5.3 in February 2006.
Many have speculated that fracking has caused the earthquakes. The USGS says most induced earthquakes are not directly caused by hydraulic fracturing, but by the injection of waste fluids from drilling operations into wastewater disposal wells. Because disposal wells operate longer and receive much more fluid than fracking operations, they are more likely to induce earthquakes.
However, minor earthquakes are nothing new to Louisiana, with occurrences documented back to the early 1800s, long before fracking or the use of disposal wells began. According to geologists, Louisiana earthquakes usually cause no damage, and tremors last just a few seconds.
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