Earthquake Rattles Biggest US Oil Region

Earthquake: A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck an oil-producing region of west Texas on Friday, rattling structures but causing no apparent damage, US authorities said.

The earthquake hit at 5:35 pm local time (2335 GMT).  22 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Midland at a depth of about eight kilometers, the US Geological Survey said.

A much smaller tremor of magnitude 3.3 followed three minutes after the first shake, the USGS said.

“This would be the 4th strongest earthquake in Texas state history!”, the Midland office of the National Weather Service tweeted through its Twitter handle.

The United States Geological Survey reported the quake took place about 3 miles under the rural Texas terrain. The shaking was reported over a wide area that stretched from New Mexico through the heart of Texas.

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Earthquakes in the south-central United States have been linked to oil and gas production, particularly the underground injection of wastewater. The U.S. Geological Survey said research suggests that a 5.0 magnitude quake that struck the West Texas area in 2020 was the result of a large increase of wastewater injection in the region.

“The area is known for oil and gas production, so that will research. We’re sure people are going to be looking at the number of wastewater injection sites in the region,” a USGS seismologist said.

Seismologists said small earthquakes are not uncommon in Texas, but larger events are rare.

Seismologists said it was still too early to determine whether the most recent quake is linked to wastewater injection. Still, researchers will be working around the clock to determine the cause.

There were no initial reports of significant damage around the quake’s epicenter or in other regions of Texas.