Damaging earthquakes that rocked West Texas in recent days were likely caused by oil and gas activity in an area that has weathered tremors for decades, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
While Friday's was the largest in the sequence, officials have also recorded a recent 4.5, a 4.9 on July 23 and a 4.7 last year.“This particular portion of the Permian Basin has a long history of earthquakes induced by oil and gas operations, going back to at least the 1970s,” said Skoumal. Further analysis is needed to confirm the specific cause of the region’s earthquakes, but because the area isn’t naturally seismic and has a long history of induced earthquakes, “these recent earthquakes are likely to also have been induced by oil and gas operations,” said Skoumal.
The Supreme Court has been hit by a new damaging leak over its abortion decisions in a fresh blow to its embattled reputation—and a hint of even more leaks to come.Intimate details of months of disagreement among the nine justices was reported at length by CNN Monday, just hours after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both back major reforms to the court, with the president accusing justices of being “above the law.