Seismologist Prediction: Additional Earthquakes Likely For Midland
So most of us felt the 3.7 magnitude earthquake that hit Midland around 10pm on Monday night. I happened to be at the radio station on Highway 191 at 1788 and I didn't feel anything--but my wife, who was at home in our house on the other side of town--said the entire house shook and a few items fell off a shelf and she also heard a big BANG right before the shaking. Some friends of ours that live by Olive Garden off Loop 250 said their house shook enough to wake their 11 year old daughter up, who had gone to bed for school the next day. Posts all over the "Next Door" neighborhood app from people who felt it, and a ton of social media posts about it as well.
Living in oil country with all the fracking that happens in our region-it's not uncommon to feel a quake here and there. But most are pretty small. This was the biggest one in a long long time. Seismologists said Tuesday there would be more to come. And they were correct. Around 3:20am on Tuesday there was another one--registering at 2.3 magnitude-and another one a little after 4am on Wednesday that registered at 2.6 magnitude.
According to a story in the MRT: "Experts told the Reporter-Telegram last week that an increase in seismicity in West Texas is likely because of oil companies injecting wastewater near faults, or cracks in the earth’s crust". Read more on the story by clicking HERE. So going forward-I guess all of us in the Permian Basin should get used to feeling like we're living in earthquake country.
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