MIDLAND, Texas – The U.S. Geological Survey recorded one of the largest earthquakes ever in the Permian Basin Monday evening.
The earthquake hit just before 8:00 p.m. Monday evening and was recorded as a 4.5 magnitude on the Richter scale at a depth of 4.8 miles.
The epicenter of the earthquake was pinpointed at 11 miles north of Stanton, a town in Martin County with less than three thousand people.
Courtesy: Google. U.S. Geological Survey
The earthquake could be felt as far away as Midland, Big Spring and Lamesa.
Before Monday’s quake, a series of four earthquakes over two days prompted the Texas Railroad Commission to order the suspension of all deep oil and gas produced by water injection in northwest Midland County. The suspension will take effect on December 31st.
The Railroad Commission says they have detected approximately 30 earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 3.0 in the Gardendale SRA since 2019.
