You Won’t Believe What Happened In Texas … An Earthquake

A total of 3 earthquakes shook up folks near Abilene Monday night but, fortunately, none of them were too severe.

A US Geological survey says the epicenter was in Hermleigh, Texas. A small town in Scurry County about 56 miles northwest of Abilene.

They happened about 10 minutes apart at around 10:38 p.m., 10:46 p.m. and 11:56 p.m. according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The first quake was the strongest one. measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale. Not a huge quake but strong enough to have been felt throughout the region. (4.9'ers are often not felt at all.) No serious, if any, damage was reported.

Quake number 2 was a little weaker, (4.4) and the last earthquake measured even less, 3.1. All, thankfully, on the weak side of the spectrum.

The three earthquakes all happened in the same area about 11 miles northeast of Hermleigh, a town of around 500 people in Scurry County. This is around 250 miles west of Dallas. The earthquakes happened about 4.78 miles below the surface, the data said. - wfaa

Earthquakes in Texas, particularly in west Texas, have been happening more frequently lately and "fracking" seems to be the culprit.

What Is Fracking?

Fracking is a form of oil drilling first used back in 1862. It involves, in a nutshell, using high pressure water, sand and chemicals to force open cracks at or below the earth's surface.

This kind of freaks out the earth, causing earth tremors and earthquakes. There is also reason to believe:

• Chemicals used in fracking cause cancer and harm our skin and reproductive systems.
• Chemicals, and methane released by them, are winding up in aquifers and drinking water.
• Fracking releases petroleum hydrocarbons, benzene and xylene.
• It raises ground-level ozone levels.
• Chemicals in water kill the fish along with birds that drink contaminated water.