PLEASANTON, Texas — The United States Geological Survey reports there was a 3.8 magnitude earthquake, with a depth of 4.6 km., approximately 11 miles east of Pleasanton.
In the small community of Black Hill Melanie Hibler has been a resident in the area for twenty years and says she felt the earthquake around 11:20 Tuesday night.
"The whole house shook and scared us to death," Hibler said.
"I thought maybe a car had had a wreck and hit our house or our carport," Hibler said. She said she and her husband were watching TV when it happened. It went on for about two seconds, but shook her home.
"It was a boom, boom. That's the way it went. Just boom, boom," Hibler said, thinking it had been some sort of explosion.
Down the road, Weldon Riggs was in bed watching TV with his wife. He also thought there had been an explosion.
"I thought maybe it was our butane tank, but if it had been the butane tank, it would have been smoking up," Riggs said. He also thought a tree had possibly fallen on his home.
Riggs said he got into his truck and drove up and down the road, looking for smoke, or a possible plane crash, but didn't find anything. Come to find out, it had been an earthquake.
"I said, 'no, earthquakes don't they don't make noise like this,'" Riggs recalled.
Hibler and Riggs called a few neighbors and the Atascosa Sheriff's Department. Riggs said deputies came out to check the area. No injuries or damage was reported--apart from some personal items.
"I know a neighbor down the road, they had--she had some dishes broken and some other things fall," Riggs said.
The USGS reported a 3.2 earthquake happened at around 12:37 a.m., and a third, 2.6 magnitude earthquake occurred at 1:44 a.m.
Hibler said she was in bed by the time she felt the earthquake that occurred before 1 a.m. and had difficulty going to bed after that.
"I wonder how many times this is going to happen before we're done," she recalled thinking.
Riggs said the epicenter of the 3.8 earthquake occurred close to his home.
"About a mile, maybe a mile and a half from the house here. So it was pretty close," Riggs said. "Pretty pretty doggone close."
The USGS reports earthquakes east of the Rocky Mountains aren't as common. It is also difficult to pinpoint the fault lines. Jessica Turner, a geophysicist with USGS, said they were fairly small, and could happen all over. She went on to say several other earthquakes would have to occur for further research, although the USGS is monitoring the situation.
Turner also couldn't say whether the earthquakes were induced. The USGS website reports a recent increase in earthquakes in the central U.S. region (i.e. Texas and Oklahoma) are primarily caused by the disposal of waste fluids, which are a byproduct of oil production.
Residents in San Antonio also reported feeling the earthquake:
Turner said folks as far north as Austin also felt the tremors. The USGS encourages others to report what they may have felt.
According to Michigan Tech, a 2.5 to 5.4 magnitude earthquake can often be felt and may only cause minor damage. There are an estimated 500,000 earthquakes that occur within this range a year. Earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.5 or less can occur by the millions each year.
Although Hibler said this was the first earthquake she experienced, Riggs recalled the 4.8 magnitude quake that shook Karnes County in 2011.
"I was driving and I could I could feel it, but not much. You know, I just thought maybe I hit a bump in the road or bump in the pasture," Riggs said.
To find more information about the three earthquakes, the USGS website features an interactive map.