Magnitude 5.1 earthquake strikes near Midland, Texas, with thousands reporting shaking

A rare earthquake struck near Midland, Texas, Monday night, triggering more than 1,000 reports of shaking, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The earthquake, initially measured at magnitude 5.1, struck at 7:49 p.m. at a depth of about 5 miles below the surface, about 21 miles west-southwest of Ackerly, the agency said.

No injuries were initially reported.

The USGS received more than 1,400 reports of shaking. People as far away as Fort Worth (280 miles east) and Austin (320 miles southeast) reported feeling the quake.

The USGS said in a summary of contemporary geologic activity in the region that earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains tend to be felt over longer distances and do more damage even if they have similar magnitudes.

“Earthquakes east of the Rockies that are centered in populated areas and large enough to cause damage are similarly likely to cause damage over greater distances than earthquakes of the same magnitude centered in western North America,” he said.

Ackerly is about 60 miles north of Midland. The area is known for hydraulic fracturing, a process that involves injecting high-pressure water into the ground to extract oil.

“There is evidence that some earthquakes in central and eastern North America were triggered or caused by human activities that altered stress conditions in the Earth's crust sufficiently to induce faulting,” the USGS said in its analysis of the region.

However, no link has been established between hydraulic fracturing and Monday's earthquake.

The USGS says hydraulic fracturing can be linked to a small percentage of earthquakes and that a larger number are attributable to wastewater disposal.