Image: Savana Kudumula (left) and Vrunda Reddy enjoy the calming ocean view as they patiently wait for their bus to arrive at TAMUCC on February 21, 2024. Photo by Issac Huerta, special to the Island Waves
Story by Zoe Smith | Translation by Victoria Escobedo
A 4.7 magnitude earthquake trembled from San Antonio to Austin on February 17, causing people to potentially wake up to a slight shake in the middle of the night. People may not have been sure that they had just experienced an earthquake. Although the earthquake was the largest on record for the month, it still was categorized as “weak.”
The earthquake took place on Saturday, February 17, at 12:32 a.m. According to a News 4 San Antonio report, the earthquake shook the area within a 40-mile radius outside of San Antonio. Many have not experienced one earthquake in a lifetime, but now some have (perhaps unknowingly) experienced up to 30 in one month!
Many of the earthquakes recorded have scored lower on the Richter Scale, scoring from 1.5 to 2.5. The Richter Scale is used to determine the strength of an earthquake. The scale measures the magnitude at which an earthquake produces. The magnitude measures the size of the earthquake. Thankfully, the earthquakes have been small and have caused no harm or damage to the citizens. The earthquake was reported to reach only 1.7 miles below the surface, according to Volcano Discovery. In fact, most of the earthquakes were so small that the citizens couldn’t feel them at all.
Inez Gomez, a local San Antonian and former Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi student, didn’t know that an earthquake had happened, “I didn’t realize it was an earthquake,” said Gomez. Many locals of southwest Texas may have felt the same way.
San Antonio has been experiencing minuscule earthquakes since the beginning of this year. Some believe that this is just the beginning of South Texas earthquakes. The Southwest earthquakes could possibly have been caused by human activity, which is known as an induced earthquake. Earthquakes can be separated into two categories: induced and tectonic. A tectonic earthquake forms and is caused by a plate tectonic shift.
The San Antonio earthquakes could have been caused by fracking. Fracking is a process that is used to remove the oils and gasses from the earth by an injection of water, sand, or chemicals. The drilling caused by fracking is what could have caused the several earthquakes to erupt. According to the United States Geological Survey, most of the earthquakes taking place in Texas are due to waste caused by production of oil. The earthquakes that might result from fracking are likely to occur on the small side of the scale and often cause little to no damage.
Unfortunately for Texas, the occurrence of miniscule seismic activity might continue to grow. The high demand of oil and gas could cause increased fracking. Oil companies are aware of the fact that fracking could be causing minor earthquakes and are taking the proper precautions. Although the last earthquake managed to reach Austin and Round Rock, this does not mean that local Corpus Christi residents are at risk.
The closest earthquake within Corpus Christi’s proximity occurred in Skidmore, Texas, a small town 50 miles away from Corpus Christi. Earthquakes will likely continue to be small and cause little to no damage. Students who reside in or are from San Antonio or Austin should not have cause to worry about the likely multiple miniscule future earthquakes.