Experts explain why Lubbock might have felt two earthquakes in a week

LUBBOCK, Texas — If you’ve wondered why there have been so many earthquakes felt in the area lately, you’re not alone. The recent seismic activity has raised concerns and questions among residents in Lubbock and surrounding areas.

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake on Monday marked the beginning of a series of seismic events in northeastern Scurry County and northwestern Fisher County. As of 12:15 p.m. Friday, there had been 71 earthquakes recorded in total. According to KLBK’s Chief Meteorologist Jacob Riley, Friday’s magnitude 5.1 quake was the 62nd earthquake to occur in this region of magnitude 1.0 or greater over the past week.

Residents in Snyder and Hermleigh reported damage to their homes due to Friday’s earthquake, and others reported feeling tremors in Lubbock and the surrounding areas.

According to Robert Skoumal, a research geophysicist from the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquakes were likely induced, with the cause linked to oil and gas operations in the area. Lubbock and surrounding regions have a long history of earthquakes induced by oil and gas operations, dating back to at least the 1970s.

“Earthquakes were first induced in the area by a process called “water flooding,” where water is injected into fields where production has dropped. The intention of water flooding is to raise fluid pressure and allowing for additional oil production,” Skoumal said. “Earthquakes in the early 2010s are believed to be induced by a similar process where carbon dioxide (rather than water) was injected to further enhance the productivity of a field.”

Dr. Harold Gurrola from Texas Tech University’s Geosciences Department elaborated on how oil and gas activities might trigger earthquakes. “Oil and gas extraction methods can trigger earthquakes by injecting fluids into the ground, which lubricates faults and reduces friction, allowing built-up stress to be released as seismic activity,” he said.

While human activities are a significant factor, they are not the only cause. The recent 4.9 magnitude earthquake occurred at a depth of 7 km, which is deeper than typical human activity, indicating a natural fault movement rather than a direct result of oil and gas extraction.

Gurrola pointed out several critical factors:

• Limited understanding of the fault systems in the Lubbock area makes it difficult to predict and fully comprehend the dynamics of these induced earthquakes.
• When a section of a fault breaks, it transmits strain to deeper parts of the fault, potentially leading to further seismic activity.
• The increase in earthquake frequency over recent decades might be influenced by modern oil and gas extraction methods, but it is not caused by a single factor.
• Human activity can trigger an earthquake, but it is caused by stresses that accumulated over time.

Gurrola emphasized, “The actual risk to a person is likely more related to the type of construction than the size of an earthquake likely to occur here.”

The most survivable structures are those constructed with steel, wood or concrete with rebar, while the least survivable are those made with brick (real brick, not wood with brick veneer).

While recent earthquakes are believed to be the result of both natural fault movements and human activities, further analysis is needed to pinpoint the exact cause. The combination of these factors adds complexity to the situation, requiring ongoing study and monitoring to better understand and mitigate the risks associated with seismic activity in the region.

“However, given the lack of natural seismicity in the area and the long history of induced earthquakes, these recent earthquakes are likely to also have been induced by oil and gas operations,” Skoumal concluded.

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