A magnitude 3.3 earthquake struck around 12:50 in Smiley, a community of about 700 in Gonzales County. No damage was reported.
Smiley is about 160 miles west of Houston.
The Texas Tribune reports that West Texas recorded a dramatic increase in earthquakes, jumping from 19 in 2009 to 1,600 in 2017, according to a study published by the University of Texas at Austin.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, looked at nearly 20 years of seismic activity. Scientists have documented more than 7,000 earthquakes near Pecos since 2009, most of them so small that no one has felt them. The scientists used an earthquake monitoring system that was “at some distance” from Pecos, but sensitive enough to pick up vibrations 150 miles away.
“West Texas now has the highest seismic rates in the state,” South Methodist University co-author and associate professor Heather DeShon said in a written statement. “What remained uncertain is when the earthquakes actually started. This study addresses this.”
While the quake’s activity coincided with a large increase in oil and gas production in West Texas, the study does not attempt to link the two.
The research lays the groundwork for understanding “the relationship between earthquakes and their human and natural causes,” said Peter Hennings, co-author of the study and a researcher at UT’s Bureau of Economic Geology, in a written statement.
West Texas saw an unprecedented increase in oil and gas production, aggravating air pollution and leading to a housing crisis, according to a 2018 joint survey by the Texas Tribune and the Center for Public Integrity.
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