Does Texas have earthquakes? Absolutely! You didn’t feel the one we had earlier this week?
On Monday, five earthquakes hit South and West Texas, one of them reported at a 4.0 magnitude by the United States Geological Survey.
The 4.0 magnitude earthquake occurred at 9 a.m. near Nordheim, a small town located in southeastern Texas, KXAN reported. Another reported as a magnitude 3.5 by USGS happened in Falls City, which is southeast of San Antonio in the Rio Grande plain region. The other three ranged in magnitude from 2.9 to 3.0.
On Tuesday, three more quakes with magnitudes between 2.7 to 3.2 touched South and West Texas, per USGS.
Adding to the laundry list of natural phenomena in the Lone Star State, Texas experiences countless earthquakes each year. According to the USGS, the first quake in Texas was reported in 1882. However, most Texas earthquakes are too small to be felt or cause any impact. The increase in earthquakes in Texas in recent years is most likely linked to oil and gas production and the process of shooting wastewater underground during fracking, the USGS told MySA.
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake hit South Texas just about a month ago. More than 2,800 earthquakes have been reported in the Lone Star State since 1900, according to KXAN. While the vast majority of those were small quakes, around 60 have been magnitude 4 or greater and five have been greater than magnitude 5.
Is Texas prone to earthquakes?
The largest known earthquake in Texas occurred on Aug. 16, 1931, near the town of Valentine in Jeff Davis County, according to the Texas Almanac. Texas has experienced many earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater. However, except for the Trans-Pecos, most of the state has a relatively small probability of experiencing an earthquake.
Ten earthquakes had epicenters near El Paso, one of which caused the only known death by a Texas earthquake. In the Panhandle, the largest reported earthquakes have not exceeded magnitude 5.4.
In East and Central Texas, there were fairly small earthquakes in 1847, 1873, 1887, 1902, 1932 and 1934. The 1887 Wellborn, 1910 Hempstead and 1914 Anderson shocks happened in southeast Texas. The 1891 Rusk and the 1981 Center and Jacksonville earthquakes were located in Northeast Texas. Small earthquakes are sometimes reported in the Houston area, like the shocks in 1925.
Worst earthquakes in Texas
In the history of Texas, these were the highest magnitude quakes, per the Texas Almanac:
1811, 8.1 magnitude: A series of quakes happened in New Madrid, Missouri, on Dec. 16, Jan. 12 and Feb. 7. Magnitudes ranged from 7.8 to 8.1. They were felt over an area of 5 million square kilometers and were probably felt in Texas, but no verifiable accounts are available.
1887, 7.4 magnitude: On May 3, an earthquake in Sonora, Mexico, was felt strongly in West Texas, including El Paso and Fort Davis.
1931, 6.0 magnitude: The first shock occurred at 5:40 a.m. on Aug. 16. The West Texas earthquake heavily damaged buildings in Valentine, but there were no fatalities and only a few minor injuries. Damage was reported in Brewster, Culberson, Jeff Davis and Presidio counties. The quake was felt over 1,000,000 square kilometers in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. The strongest aftershock on Aug. 18 was magnitude 4.2 at Alpine, Lobo, Pecos and Valentine.
1995, 5.7 magnitude: On April 14, an earthquake occurred in Brewster County, resulting in breakages, small fires and landslides.
1882, 5.6 magnitude: The Oct. 22 earthquake felt in Texas was likely centered in Oklahoma or Arkansas. The quake was felt over 375,000 square kilometers.
2011, 5.6 magnitude: Tremors were felt into North Texas on Nov. 5 when an earthquake between Oklahoma City and Tulsa shook at 10:53 p.m.
1952, 5.5 magnitude: This earthquake in central Oklahoma on April 9 caused furniture to sway in North Texas and was felt as far south as Austin.
1925, 5.4 magnitude: In the Panhandle on July 30, there were three shocks over a period of 15 seconds. The shocks were felt over an area of approximately 518,000 square kilometers.
