Texas Earthquake Activity While Moving – “Fault Zone Activated”

An area in Texas could be set to receive more earthquakes as seismic activity moves along a newly active fault zone.

Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin looked at seven years of seismic data from the Midland Basin, a massive sedimentary basin in the Southwest, to arrive at these findings. The basin is considered a major oil field. Process wastewater, which is injected into the surface, has created multiple stresses along the fault lines.

The researchers found that over the seven years, most earthquakes occurred near Odessa and Midland, both southwest of the basin. However, they found that the seismic activity was definitely moving in a different direction, says a summary of their findings. The earthquakes appear to be moving northeast to the edge of the basin. There lies the newly activated rift zone.

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The scientists published their findings in the journal Earthquake Research Letters.

A diagram showing the rift system across the Midland Basin in the southwest. It marks induced earthquakes as gray crosses, and earthquakes larger than magnitude 4 as light blue stars, a structure that researchers expect to be a fault like… A diagram showing the fault system across the Midland Basin in the southwest. It marks induced earthquakes as gray crosses, earthquakes greater than 4 on the Richter scale as light blue stars, the structure that researchers expect to be a fault as pink dashes, and earthquake-producing regions marked as numbered green squares. The dark blue star is the site of the 5.2 magnitude Ring Hill earthquake. More Dino Huang, et al. /Jackson School of Geosciences

“The fault zone has been activated, and it has the potential to generate additional earthquakes that can be felt by humans, especially since it is so close to major cities along Interstate 20,” said Dino Huang, an assistant professor at the Jackson School of Physics. Earth Sciences, who led the research, said in a statement.

The studied data, which was recorded by the government seismic network TexNet from January 2017 to November 2023, recorded a total of 1,305 earthquakes. The study stated that most of them were small in size, resulting in minor damage.

The data allowed Austin researchers to analyze areas in the Midland Basin fault system that had never been mapped before. They discovered a fault structure extending above the basin, which appears to be getting larger. Smaller faults surrounding the fault zone have also been mapped, the researchers reported. The researchers identified a total of 15 “earthquake-producing areas.”

The researchers said the basin's overall seismic activity has definitely increased since 2018. This means there is the potential for large earthquakes to occur in new areas with greater frequency, although this is still difficult to predict accurately.

The researchers can back up their predictions with evidence of a 5.2 magnitude earthquake at Ring Hill, to the northwest, in 2022. This earthquake put further stresses on the fault, which has since continued in a northeasterly direction. This is located on the same path as the fault structure, also known as the “Zone 6” area of ​​the basin.

It is known that earthquakes are difficult to predict in all their factors, from their strength to the frequency with which they may occur. However, after identifying these stressors, researchers can predict that more earthquakes will occur in Zones 6 through 8 of the basin, which includes populated areas like Big Spring and Stanton.

In fact, scientists have noted that earthquakes have occurred in this area recently. The study stated that a 3.7-magnitude earthquake was observed in March 2023, and a 3.8-magnitude earthquake occurred in November 2023. Both were in Zone 8 and support researchers’ expectations that these areas are poised to receive more seismic activity.

Studies of the Midland Basin are helping researchers understand the extent of stress on these fault systems. From this, they can predict how likely large earthquakes are. This can also help inform basin operators about limiting wastewater injection, to ensure stresses on the fault system remain low.

Do you have advice on a science story Newsweek should cover? Do you have a question about earthquakes? Let us know at [email protected].

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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