A 2.5-magnitude quake at 11:25 p.m. Thursday near Grand Prairie was followed by a series of other small earthquakes in the Dallas suburb, then a 3.0-magnitude quake at 12:01 a.m. Friday in nearby Irving, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Most people in the Dallas area had no idea because the tremors were minor and centered in southwestern Irving. But those who did seemed unnerved by the rare Texas quakes that shook apartment buildings and set off car alarms.
"It's pretty scary. ... The whole bed shakes," one woman told an Irving 911 operator early Friday morning, according to one of several audiotapes released by the Irving Police Department.
Another caller said he felt jolts about every 10 to 15 minutes and had seen "pictures falling off the wall and all that."
Irving police received about 25 calls but no reports of injuries or damage, Officer David Tull said.
A 3.1-magnitude earthquake occurred Thursday about 11:30 a.m. near McLoud, Okla., a 5,000-resident town some 180 miles north of Dallas, with no reports of injuries or damage, according to the USGS.
"I didn't even feel it," said McLoud Police Chief Gary Roe.
But the quakes in the two states are considered separate events because they occurred so far apart in distance and time, although researchers are not sure if a fault line runs between both cities, said USGS geophysicist Jessica Sigala.
The USGS said a 2.9-magnitude earthquake occurred shortly after noon Friday near Maryville, Tenn., but emergency officials said no damage had been reported.
Maryville is 160 miles east of Nashville.
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