CLEBURNE (June 13, 2009)—An earthquake on June 2 was the first recorded quake in Cleburne’s 140-year history, but it wasn’t the last.

There have been four small earthquakes since, none with a magnitude greater than 2.8.

The most recent ones came Tuesday night, just as the City Council was meeting to discuss what to do about the ground moving.

The Associated Press reports the council's solution was to hire a geology consultant to try to answer the question of whether natural gas drilling, which began in earnest in the Cleburne area in 2001 and has brought great prosperity, is causing the quakes?

Cleburne Mayor Ted Reynolds says he believes "John Q. Public thinks there is a correlation with drilling."

At issue is a drilling practice called "fracking," in which water is injected into the ground at high pressure to fracture the layers of shale and release natural gas trapped in the rock.

The Associated Press reports there's no consensus among scientists about whether the practice is contributing to the quakes.

None of the quakes caused damage or injuries, though city officials are keeping a close eye on the earthen dam at Lake Pat Cleburne.