The quake could be felt as far as 150 miles away in El Paso, Texas and neighboring Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
A 5.0 magnitude earthquake rattled the West Texas, Mentone, El Paso area on the morning of March 26, 2020, reports CNN.
According to ABC News, it was centered in far eastern Culbertson County, which is two counties east of El Paso County, and happened at 9:16 a.m. The epicenter location was about 150 miles from El Paso. It is also reported that the quake was felt across El Paso and also around New Mexico's Juarez as well as in Las Cruces and other parts of southern New Mexico.
A series of four quakes with mild tremors starting from 4 a.m. was felt around the area which was followed by the biggest one of 5.0 magnitude at 9:16 a.m. The preliminary magnitude was 4.7, but officials upgraded it a short time later to 5.0 after reviewing further data.
BREAKING | A magnitude 4.7 earthquake just struck with a depth of 5km near Mentone, Texas. Earthquake was felt as far away as El Paso, Texas. #earthquake #elpaso pic.twitter.com/q1CTS7RGYd
— Zach Covey (@ZachCoveyTV) March 26, 2020
“It felt like a truck going by, then you could hear a crack in the walls,” Verta Sparks, a clerk at the Loving County Sheriff’s Department in the small town of Mentone, told the Associated Press. Mentone, which has around 100 residents, is about 40 miles east of the epicenter, ABC News reported.
No major damage or injuries were immediately reported in the sparsely populated area. Loving County [affected area] has only about 100 residents but is full of truck traffic serving the oil drilling industry in the surrounding Permian Basin.
There was a 3.8 Magnitude Earthquake, about three hours east of El Paso. Some El Pasoans reported feeling it. Did you? pic.twitter.com/R6oP4UFvjo
— Monica Cortez (@MonicaKTSM) March 26, 2020
Geologists say thousands of earthquakes recorded in recent years have been linked to the underground injection of wastewater from oil and gas production, claims Fox 6 Now.
The staff in the El Paso call center for the state's 2-1-1 Texas program, a 24-hour social service hotline, were briefly evacuated after the 5.0 quake occurred. They returned to work a short time later. But the city of El Paso said in a statement, "Calls will still be answered by the network but the local specialists are offline."
Due to tremors in El Paso from the earthquake in Culberson and Reeves County, the 2-1-1 Call Center is offline as staff had to be evacuated. Calls will still be answered by the network but the local specialists are offline.
— City of El Paso (@ElPasoTXGov) March 26, 2020
Several Twitter users believe that the earthquake amid the coronavirus lockdown is a wakeup call from nature for human beings.
Mother Nature is "speaking"....perhaps we should finally start listening.
— Heather B. ☀️ (@OriconAilin814) March 26, 2020
the end is near, yall should have prepared
— Bruce lee Fan (@JETKUNEDO1998) March 26, 2020
I think Mother Nature is now fighting back! Coronavirus, earthquakes...what's next?? 😳
— Heather B. ☀️ (@OriconAilin814) March 27, 2020
Days ago, a massive earthquake hit the capital city of Croatia causing injury and widespread damage. The Prime Minister of the country stated that it was the biggest earthquake Zagreb city had experienced in 140 years.
The world is already fighting off a global pandemic by isolating themselves in their homes and these occurrences of natural calamities only seem to add to the panic-induced state people around the world are in. While some relate these occurrences to omens, some call it the consequence of human failure. Whatever it may be, one thing is for sure, now is the time to show solidarity and help each other out from this phase of darkness!
References:
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/26/us/el-paso-west-texas-earthquake/index.html
https://fox6now.com/2020/03/26/5-earthquakes-rattle-west-texas-largest-is-magnitude-5-0/
