USGS: Three Small Earthquakes Recorded in West Texas

MENTONE, TX – The U.S. Geological Survey has reported three earthquakes have hit this week west of Mentone, roughly 23 miles North of Pecos.

The first two earthquakes struck early Tuesday morning, while the third happened Wednesday morning. 

 The first quake was a 2.6 magnitude and happened 47.2 miles west of Mentone at 1:49 a.m. The second struck shortly after and was a 2.7-magnitude quake which struck 32.3 miles west of Mentone at 3:01 a.m.

Earthquaketrack.com listed the Wednesday tremor as a 2.9-magnitude quake which struck at 7:24 a.m. about 44.1 miles west of Mentone.

On Wednesday Earthquaketrack.com listed 12 earthquakes that have struck around Mentone this month, not to mention the 146 in the last 365 days. 

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Earlier this month a pair of quakes struck around the Midland and Odessa area with one registering as a  2.6 magnitude which hit 9.9 miles northwest of Midland on June 5, and another that registered as a 2.5-magnitude that hit 6.2 miles northwest of Goldsmith five days later on June 10.

All of the aforementioned earthquakes were recorded at a depth of 3.1 miles according to Earthquaketrack.com

As a comparison, Upseis states that an earthquake with a magnitude of 2.5 to 5.4 is “often felt, but only causes minor damage."