West Texas earthquakes primarily occur near areas where wastewater from oil and gas drilling is injected, according to an updated Southern Methodist University study.
Why it matters: Earthquakes near drilling sites don’t just affect local communities. The seismic waves can be felt hundreds of miles away.
Driving the news: Two earthquakes in West Texas late last month were felt more than 200 miles away in downtown Dallas.
- Both were among the strongest ever recorded in Texas, per FOX4 .
Flashback: More than 100 earthquakes were recorded within a week in July around Scurry County in West Texas, per the Dallas Morning News . But only the higher-magnitude ones were felt in Dallas-Fort Worth.
- Not all tremors are confined to West Texas oil fields. A 3.0- and a 3.2-magnitude earthquake were recorded on the same afternoon in May just outside Mansfield .
How it works: Oil and gas companies use water to break up, or fracture , rock formations to let loose natural gas. That water then flows back to the surface but is no longer suitable for drinking.