Tremor terror: The tiny town that gets a dozen earthquakes EVERY DAY after gas drilling goes awry

By Daniel Bates
Last updated at 10:55 PM on 7th February 2011

A tiny American town has become one of the earthquake capitals of the world after suffering more than a dozen tremors every single day.

Residents of Guy in Arkansas have lived through thousands of minor quakes in just six months after gas drilling apparently destabilised the earth beneath them.

So frequent are the tremors - which go up to four on the Richter scale - that they have been given their own name: the Guy earthquake swarm.

Only a fraction have been felt and the only damage so far has been a cracked window of a snack bar.

Locals however have reported strange shifts in the ground, odd movements and bizarre noises as the Earth moves beneath them.

They claim that the tremors began when a gas company began drilling nearby in a geological formation called the Fayetteville shale.

The companies dig deep wells which are injected with water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to get access to to gas pockets.

Secondary wells have to be dug for disposal of the waste, putting further strain on the area.


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