Another earthquake has shaken parts of Midland.
The US Geological Survey reported that a 4.5-magnitude quake struck around 7:55 p.m. Monday night around 11.1 miles north of Stanton. It happened at a depth of 4.3 miles. The earthquake will go down as tied for the second strongest in West Texas during the last decade, according to EarthquakeTrack.com.
Early reports from the USGS showed a 4.3 magnitude quake at a depth of 3.1 miles.
The quake was the first around Midland-Odessa since Thursday morning and even stronger than the series of earthquakes that happened on Dec. 15 and 16.
EarthquakeTrack.com reports Monday tremor is the first earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0 or greater in or around Midland since Dec. 31, 2020. That quake – magnitude 4.0 — also happened 11.1 miles north of Stanton at a depth of 3.1 miles. Those are the only two 4.0-plus magnitude quakes within 50 miles of Midland-Odessa, according to the tracking site.
Previous 4.0-plus magnitude quakes around West Texas in the last two years have taken place near Mentone (11 quakes) in Loving County and Snyder (one). EarthquakeTrack.com also showed the earthquake on Monday night to be tied for the second strongest in West Texas in the last 10 years, only topped by a 5.0-magnitude quake near Mentone on March 26, 2020.
Following earthquakes earlier this month around Gardendale, the Railroad Commission of Texas required seven deep disposal wells in the SRA area to suspend injection until further notice. The Railroad Commission of Texas also stated that its inspectors “will inspect operations of disposal wells in the immediate area of the seismic activity” that took place near Midland.
There have been 19 quakes around the Midland-Odessa-Garden City region in the past 30 days, according to EarthquakeTrack.com, and 242 in the past 365 days.
Strongest quakes in West Texas
(in last 10 years)
5.0 magnitude 25.4 miles west of Mentone March 26, 2020
4.5 magnitude 11.1 miles north of Stanton Dec. 27, 2021
4.5 magnitude 44.7 miles from Mentone March 26, 2020
Strongest quakes in West Texas History
6.5 magnitude 28.5 miles from Alpine Aug. 16, 1931
5.7 magnitude 19.2 miles from Alpine April 13, 1995
5.0 magnitude 25.4 miles west of Mentone March 26, 2020
4.8 magnitude 30.4 miles from Pecos Aug. 1, 1975
4.6 magnitude 36.6 miles from Sierra Blanca April 29, 2011
4.5 magnitude 11.1 miles north of Stanton Dec. 27, 2021
4.5 magnitude 44.7 miles from Mentone March 26, 2020
Source: EarthquakeTrack.com