The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia has taken a toll on oil supplies and prices stateside. Part of the solution? Texas. But while this could prove financially beneficial to the state, West Texans may have to pay a price.
According to Bloomberg, Texas is set to become the earthquake capital of the U.S. thanks to the increased drilling/fracking in the Permian Basin.
In fact, they say that there have been 59 earthquakes measuring 3.0 or above on the Richter scale in the first three months of 2022, compared to six back in all of 2015. Add in the smaller tremors, and you're looking more at quadruple figures.
In the past day alone, there have been two sub 3.0 magnitude earthquakes in Toyah, Texas.
Not only are they becoming more frequent, but they're also increasing in size. In the last two years alone there have been four measuring in at 4.5 in magnitude, just .5 below a scale that could mean major structural damage to buildings above.
As a result, Texas is on track to potentially overtake California and Alaska as the earthquake capital of the country.
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