A significant earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 occurred near Midland, Texas, on Monday evening, leading to over 1,000 reports of tremors, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The earthquake struck at 7:49 p.m. at a depth of approximately 5 miles, located around 21 miles west-southwest of Ackerly.
Fortunately, there have been no initial reports of injuries associated with the incident. The USGS has noted that they received more than 1,400 reports of shaking from residents, with people as far away as Fort Worth, 282 miles to the east, and Austin, 322 miles to the southeast, indicating that the tremors were felt over a vast area.
In their summary regarding the geological activity in the region, the USGS explained that earthquakes occurring east of the Rocky Mountains are typically felt over longer distances and can cause more damage compared to similar magnitude quakes that happen in western North America. They highlighted that earthquakes in populated areas have a higher likelihood of causing noticeable damage over greater distances.
Ackerly, located about 60 miles north of Midland, is an area known for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a technique that involves injecting water at high pressure to extract oil from the ground. The USGS pointed out that some earthquakes in central and eastern North America may have been triggered by human activities that changed stress conditions within the Earth’s crust sufficiently to induce faulting. However, there is currently no established link between fracking and the recent earthquake.
The USGS noted that while a small percentage of earthquakes can be associated with fracking, a larger number are related to wastewater disposal practices.