DALLAS (AP) — A minor earthquake measuring a preliminary 3.4 magnitude rattled a suburban community west of Dallas during the night but there were no immediate reports of any damages or injuries, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The quake struck at 11:05 p.m. CDT Saturday and was centered about 2 miles north of The Dallas suburb of Irving, the survey's national earthquake monitoring center in Golden, Colo., reported. Geophysicist Randy Baldwin told The Associated Press by phone from Colorado that the quake lasted several seconds and was strong enough to have been felt near the epicenter and possibly as far as15 or 20 miles away.
He says the quake's online reporting system received no reports of any damages or injuries, but there were some 1,200 online responses from people who felt it. "Of all the reports we've received there were no intensities of a damaging nature. We haven't heard of any kind of damage and it's probably too small for that," Baldwin added.
Baldwin says smaller aftershocks are a possibility over the coming day or so, noting that the region has been rattled by a number of minor quakes since 2008.
He said the quake was detected by a seismological station about 65 miles from the epicenter — somewhat distant — and the preliminary magnitude of 3.4 could be revised up or down once further data is obtained.
