Residents in South Texas might have noticed some minor ground shaking from a Sunday afternoon earthquake.
A magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded at 3:52 p.m. Sunday, centered 7 miles from Dilley in Frio County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That’s about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio.
Earthquakes of magnitudes 2.5 to 5.4 are considered minor to moderate quakes. They often cause tremors that can be felt at the surface but rarely cause damage, according to Michigan Technological University’s magnitude scale. About 500,000 earthquakes in that range are recorded each year, and there are millions of quakes of magnitude 2.4 or lower, according the university.
Tremors from the quake near Dilley was felt by at least one resident, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. No damage was reported.
Several smaller quakes were also recorded in that same area on Sunday and Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Six quakes with magnitudes of between 1.6 and 2.8 were registered in the area between Dilley and Pearsall, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The most powerful recorded earthquake in Texas history happened on Aug. 16, 1931, near the small West Texas town of Valentine. The earthquake had a magnitude of 5.8, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The earthquake was felt in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Mexico and caused significant damage in Jeff Davis, Brewster, Culberson and Presidio counties.
In Valentine, “all buildings except wood-frame houses were damaged severely and all brick chimneys toppled or were damaged,” and a number of landslides were reported in the Van Horn Mountains and the Chisos Mountains, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.