Texas Records One of Its Strongest Earthquakes After Magnitude 5.4 Strikes Region
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Known for being home to vast oil and fracking projects, Texas' Permian Basin has seen earthquakes skyrocket in recent history. An earlier report found that the state recorded 59 quakes in the first three months of 2022 alone.
A notable magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck western Texas late Friday, marking one of the strongest incidents to ever be recorded.
Giving local residents an unexpected kick to jumpstart their weekend, the quake struck at about 5:35 p.m. local time some 14 miles north-northwest of Midland, Texas. The US Geological Survey (USGS) reported the earthquake hit at a depth of about 8.2 kilometers.
An aftershock registering at a magnitude 3.3 was recorded about three minutes after the initial quake.
Footage of slight shaking was shared on social media, as well as photos documenting some minor structural damages. No reports of injuries have been detailed.
It's subtle, but you can see the #earthquake shaking this camera near Big Spring, Texas. pic.twitter.com/QXzZsjtKUX
— Nick Stewart (@NStewCBS2) December 17, 2022
Minor damage has been reported in West Texas from the earthquake, most notably in Midland. If you have any photos, please send them in! pic.twitter.com/RzQN6kXoge
— Anthony Franze (@AnthonyFranzeWX) December 17, 2022
Early reports made to the USGS have indicated the event was felt by more than 1,500 people from Texas' Amarillo and Abilene to as far as Carlsbad, New Mexico, according to department geophysicist Jana Pursley.
“It’s a sizable earthquake for that region,” Pursley said. “In that region such an event will be felt for a couple of hundred miles.”
The Friday earthquake has been described as the fourth-strongest to have been recorded in Texas history, coming just a month after the third-strongest quake rattled the very same region.
Today's earthquake was the 4th strongest in Texas's recorded history, just shy of the 3rd strongest earthquake that happened exactly one month ago today. pic.twitter.com/SaYHXbJdPb
— Jacob Riley - KLBK (@jrileywx) December 17, 2022
The November quake had registered as a magnitude 5.3 near the Texan city of Pecos, which is located about 1.5 hours from Midland.
Home to various hydraulic fracking projects, Western Texas is not a complete stranger to earthquakes, of which have been occurring more frequently. Fracking practices cause earthquakes when sludgy water is reinjected into the ground, effectively building pressure on fault lines.
