San Antonio Feels Effects from South Texas 3.9 Earthquake

Small earthquakes are not that uncommon in South Texas.  Recently, a couple of earthquakes hit the Fall City area on Sunday.  That makes a total of 10 quakes to hit this same area of Texas in the first 11 days of February.

This earthquake was registered at 3.9 and struck just after 2 Sunday morning and located about 10 miles North West of Karnes City.  Small effects could be felt in all the way in San Antonio. A second quake hit shortly after 2:38 a.m with  a 2.9-magnitude - about two miles south of Falls City.  Another quake hit on February 9th, a 3.2 magnitued, and a total of 6 quakes below 2.2 have hit over the last 10 days.

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EARTHQUAKES HAPPEN IN OUR AREA ALL THE TIME:

At one point during a six-week period in 2021, there was a total of thirty-three(1.8-3.3 magnitude) reported earthquakes in this general area. Before this time period, this area was pretty dormant. So the question is, why are these happening?

WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?

So the question is, why are these happening? Most people will say fracking. Here is the official response from the USGS. While earthquakes are not directly caused by hydraulic fracturing (fracking). The two are connected. The recent increase in earthquakes is primarily caused by the disposal of waste fluids that are a byproduct of oil production. How does this cause an earthquake? Wastewater disposal wells typically operate for longer durations and inject much more fluid than is injected during the hydraulic fracturing process, making them more likely to induce earthquakes.

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