5.1 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles West Texas

A map shows the location of an earthquake of magnitude 5.1 that struck near the central Texas town of Hermleigh at 5:28 a.m. local time on Friday, July 24, 2024. USGS/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

A sizable earthquake shook West Texas on Friday morning followed by a series of aftershocks that were felt about 200 miles away.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the 5.1 magnitude quake at 9:28 a.m. local time in Hermleigh, Texas, which is in Scurry County, about 200 miles west of Fort Worth.

The small county of Scurry is home to about 17,000 residents. There have been no reports of injuries.

Friday’s earthquake follows a 4.9 magnitude earthquake that shook the same county at 10:39 p.m. on Monday, July 22. That earthquake occurred between Snyder and Roby, just miles from Friday’s event.

Much like the earthquake on Monday, people across the state reported feeling aftershocks as far away as Dallas-Fort Worth, Amarillo, and Ozona, according to USGS. Both of those earthquakes are on a larger scale than what usually occurs in Texas.

The USGS initially registered Friday’s earthquake as a magnitude 4.8, but it was later upgraded.

Several smaller earthquakes followed.

The second earthquake at 10:40 a.m. was registered as a magnitude 3.3, followed by a magnitude 2.7 four minutes later and a magnitude 2.5 at 11:11 a.m.

The Hermleigh area has experienced several earthquakes in recent weeks, but the majority are between magnitude 1 and 2, according to USGS data. Earthquakes measuring at magnitude 2 and below are considered too low to cause injuries or damage. The magnitude scale goes up to 10, and a very small earthquake can be a negative, such as -0.3.

Last year, about 2,500 of 4,657 earthquakes registered at magnitude 2 or above in Texas, according to the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2022, there were about 2,600 earthquakes of at least a magnitude 2 out of more than 3,100 seismic events.

An earthquake occurs when underground rock suddenly shifts along a fault zone, according to Michigan Technological University.

Hydraulic fracking is often believed to cause earthquakes, but that is rarely the case, according to USGS.

“Reports of hydraulic fracturing causing felt earthquakes are extremely rare,” the website states. “However, wastewater produced by wells that were hydraulic fractured can cause ‘induced’ earthquakes when it is injected into deep wastewater wells.”

The pressure levels in wastewater injection can raise pressure levels in the rock formation over longer periods and across larger areas than fracking, making it “more likely to induce earthquakes than hydraulic fracturing.”

“Most wastewater injection wells are not associated with felt earthquakes,” USGS states, adding that the combination of many factors would be necessary to induce felt earthquakes.

The strongest earthquake recorded in Texas history was a magnitude 6 on Aug. 13, 1931. Since then, there have been nine earthquakes, including Friday’s event, which have registered at magnitude 5 or above.