A 5.0 magnitude earthquake shook the northern tip of Texas this Thursday, with its epicenter near the small town of Miami (not to be confused with the city in Florida), in Roberts County, as confirmed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The earthquake was registered about 37 kilometers south-southeast of Spearman and had a depth of only 5.7 kilometers, a characteristic that contributed to the movement being felt over a wide area of the Texas Panhandle.
So far, authorities have not reported any casualties or material damage, reported .
The tremor was felt in several cities in Texas and Oklahoma, including Amarillo, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa, as well as some areas of the state of Kansas, according to reports from residents.
The USGS estimated a maximum intensity of VI ("strong") on the ShakeMap scale, while numerous users who reported the event through the "Did You Feel It?" system described an intensity of up to VII, indicating that the shaking was clearly perceptible to those in the vicinity of the epicenter.
Despite this, the USGS's PAGER system classified the event as green level, a category that indicates a low probability of significant economic losses or fatalities.
Replicas could be registered
Although no aftershocks were detected immediately following the earthquake, the USGS warned that there is still a possibility of new tremors in the coming days.
Official estimates indicate a 44% probability of at least one aftershock of magnitude 3 or higher occurring in the next week, a 12% chance of it reaching magnitude 4 or greater, and only a 2% likelihood of reaching magnitude 5 or more.
The event was initially recorded by TexNet, the Seismic Network of Texas, operated by the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin, which is responsible for monitoring both natural seismic activity and that which may be related to oil and gas extraction operations.
The strongest in over a century
According to local media such as San Angelo Live, the earthquake would be the most powerful recorded in the Texas Panhandle in over 100 years and only the fourth of magnitude 4.0 or higher documented in that region since 1900.
Miami, Texas —not to be confused with the city of the same name in Florida— is the county seat of Roberts County, one of the least populated counties in the state. According to the 2020 Census, the county has only 827 residents, while the town had 597 residents in the 2010 census.
A region under scientific observation
Seismic activity in the Panhandle has garnered increasing interest among scientists over the past decade. A study published in 2022 in the Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists detected a sustained increase in earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or higher between 1983 and 2018.
The research indicated that 61% of those events showed signs of being related to the underground injection of wastewater from the oil industry, although the authors clarified that there is no conclusive evidence to definitively attribute the origin of those earthquakes to that activity.
The USGS maintains the event at a status of "reviewed" and continues to monitor the area due to the possibility of new seismic activity in the coming days.
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