Fresh quakes damage West Texas area with long history of tremors caused by oil and gas industry

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A sequence that began in 2021 erupted with its largest quake on Friday, a magnitude 5.1 in the most active area in the country for quakes

A pump jack drills oil crude from the Yates Oilfield in West Texas’s Permian Basin near Iraan, Texas, on March 17, 2023.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.

“Safety is our top priority for all of our residents, and so we wanted to make sure we had all the available resources at our hands if we needed them,” said Jay Callaway, emergency management co-ordinator for the city of Snyder and Scurry County, of the disaster declaration. He added that despite resident concerns, a disaster declaration doesn’t mean they were anticipating a “big one.” He said they continued to have small tremors on Monday.

“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. Four other tremors larger than a magnitude 5 have rattled western Texas in the past few years. The biggest was a 5.4. “All four of these earthquakes were induced by waste water disposal,” said Skoumal.

 

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