Texas earthquakes have increased with hydraulic fracturing

Earthquakes were rare in West Texas before the hydraulic fracturing boom. The chart shows the number of earthquakes above magnitude 2.5 between 2005 and 2020.

Data as of Nov. 2, 2020
Chart: The Conversation/CC-BY-ND Source: Thomas Goebel/University of Memphis; U.S. Geological Survey Get the data