Residents of West Texas experienced another jolt early Monday morning when a series of earthquakes shook the region, continuing a pattern of increased seismic activity and strange occurrences all around.
The largest of the earthquakes, with a magnitude of 3.4, occurred near the small town of Toyah, home to 61 people, where a mysterious 30-meter geyser recently rose into the air.
While Monday’s shaking caused no damage, it was strong enough that people in surrounding areas felt it, sparking renewed debate about its possible causes.
The city is also subject to a rotten egg smell that has been hanging in the air for two months.
A massive geyser has been shooting water more than 100 feet into the air, which can be seen for miles in Toyah, Texas.
The site was the location of a dry well in the 1960s, but has not been used in decades.
The stench came after a well exploded and sent a gush of chemical water into the sky so high it could be seen from 7 miles away in Reeves County.
When the fire department arrives on the scene to deal with the exploding wells and bursts of water, they are helpless and can do little to contain the geyser.
“There’s not much we can do,” Reeves County Emergency Services Chief Ronald Lee said. Texas Grandstand. “We don’t have the equipment to do anything.”
Those who live in the area worry that leaks and explosions could contaminate clean water sources, not to mention the toxic chemicals that are increasingly being released into the air, including methane, which contributes to climate change.
The Texas Railroad Commission has spent $25 million to plug known orphan wells and is about to receive an additional $80 million cash injection.
Workers can visit the geyser site, but they can’t do anything about it.
Wells are often abandoned water sources or oil wells that have dried up but suddenly sprung up again.
Sarah Stogner uses a drone to obtain images and video of a produced water geyser in West Texas as it emerges from the ground in Toyah.
However, there appears to be no way to plug orphan wells before they burst, and communities are also ill-equipped to deal with them.
So far, the commission has plugged 737 wells, representing only about 10 percent of the estimated number of orphan wells in Texas.
Part of the problem is also due to lax regulations: companies simply abandon wells when they no longer produce oil or water, rather than sealing them properly.
The Toyah well, for example, is 11,331 feet deep and was drilled in 1961 by the El Paso Gas Company. It had been dormant for decades.
In terms of seismic activity, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which monitors seismic events across the country, Monday’s earthquake was part of a broader trend of frequent earthquakes in Texas.
Two other smaller tremors were also recorded Monday morning: a magnitude 1.3 earthquake near Coahoma and a magnitude 1.6 earthquake elsewhere in the region.
Although minor, they are part of a growing number of earthquakes in the state.
West Texas has seen a notable increase in seismic activity in recent years.
In September, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake sent shock waves across the state, with tremors felt as far away as San Antonio and Austin.
The Toyah well, for example, is 11,331 feet deep and was drilled in 1961 by the El Paso Gas Company. It had been dormant for decades.
The jet of water is so high that it can be seen 7 miles away.
The constant earthquakes in Toyah, a small town of 61 inhabitants, have caused some structural damage.
This was followed by another major event in October, when a magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck the Toyah area.
A jolt of such magnitude may cause hanging objects to sway, but damage is unlikely to occur as a result.
Experts say these stronger earthquakes indicate a worrying increase in both the frequency and intensity of seismic events.
The rise in earthquakes has led many to examine the region’s burgeoning oil and gas industry, particularly practices such as fracking and wastewater disposal.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting high-pressure fluid into underground rock formations to extract oil and gas, while wastewater from these operations is often disposed of by injecting it back into the ground.
Some scientists and environmentalists believe these activities could be related to the increase in earthquakes.
An abandoned gas station in Toyah, Reeves County, Texas
Toyah, a town of only 61 residents, is something of a ghost town these days.
West Texas, the proud oil drilling capital of the United States, is now also about to become the earthquake capital of the United States.
Although the direct cause of Monday’s earthquakes is still under investigation, the USGS has previously pointed to improper wastewater disposal as a possible trigger for the seismic activity.
The earthquake rate in the Eagle Ford Shale has increased significantly since 2018,” said Justin Rubinstein, USGS geophysicist.
He added that not only have earthquakes become more frequent, but their magnitudes have also increased over time.
Local officials and residents have expressed growing concern.
Some have taken to social media to express their frustration, blaming the oil and gas industry for what they see as an unnatural increase in seismic activity.
Meanwhile, municipalities like Midland have clashed with industry leaders, pushing for stricter regulations on wastewater disposal to mitigate the risk of future earthquakes.
Oil is the name of the game in West Texas with these pumps located in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Midland, Texas.
An oil pump is shown through the window of a damaged house in March.
While investigations into the cause of these seismic events could take months, the Texas Tribune recently reported on growing tensions between local governments and the oil industry.
The USGS continues to closely monitor the region, urging caution and preparedness, as the frequency of earthquakes shows no signs of slowing.
As seismic activity becomes commonplace in West Texas, debate over the environmental impact of oil and gas production is likely to intensify.
For now, residents remain on edge, bracing for the possibility of more earthquakes in the coming weeks and months.