Texas earthquakes and wildfires are rivaling those of California

February was a wild time for Texas, with potentially record-breaking earthquakes in South Texas, record-setting fires blazing the Texas Panhandle while snow blanketed the region, and dry and unseasonably warm conditions for much of the state. It all begs the question: Is Texas the new California, meteorologically and tectonically?

So many of these phenomena are far more regularly associated with the Sunshine State, which harbors many fault lines and is the third-largest state by area, making it home to many weather patterns. But now, Texas is starting to share a heavy resemblance.

“Wow. They really did bring California to Texas,” wrote Thomas Riley on Facebook.

Earthquakes in the United States are synonymous with California, causing serious damage to the state every year. According to United States Geological Survey data, California sees about 10,000 earthquakes a year. However, only a few hundred of those are a magnitude of 3 or higher and only about 15-20 are greater than a magnitude of 4. So, how does Texas compare?

Earthquakes are becoming a much more common occurrence as a result of the oil industry’s efforts to unearth natural gas, officials say. In just the last month, South Texas saw 12 earthquakes of a Magnitude 3 or higher — which nearly rivals the total for last year.

“The earthquake rate in the broader Eagle Ford Shale, which stretches from approximately La Grange southwest all the way to the border with Mexico, has risen significantly since 2018,” said Justin Rubinstein, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. “The earthquakes have also gotten larger.”

In just the last month, Texas saw two earthquakes reach a Magnitude 4 or higher. In fact, the February 17 earthquake that shook South Central Texas — there were reports even in San Antonio despite the epicenter being tied to Falls City — was a Magnitude 4.7

Rubinstein told MySA this would be the largest human-induced earthquake in U.S. history if it’s tied to the fracking industry. That determination could take up to six months to make.

Texas could rival California in terms of larger-scale earthquakes over a magnitude of 3 or 4 if the rate continues. And, Rubinstein says they’re becoming more common in clusters when they used to be fare more spread out over the year in Texas.

While wildfires certainly get a lot more attention in California with so many devastating fires ravaging homes and sending choking smoke into large cities, Texas really has much larger and more frequent wildfires according to data compiled by their respective state agencies.

As of Friday, March 1, the deadly and devastating Smokehouse Creek Fire has nearly ignited 1.1 million acres in the Texas Panhandle, breaking not only the record for the largest fire in Texas history but surpassing California’s largest fire on record — the August Complex Fire which burned 1,032,648 acres in 2020, according to data from Reuters.

“As of last check the Smokehouse Creek Fire has grown to 1.1 million acres and is approximately 3% contained. This is now both the largest and most destructive fire in Texas History. It is also the second largest wildfire in US History,” the West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department posted on Facebook Thursday afternoon, February 28.

And that’s not the only notable fire that ignited in February. A handful of large-scale wildfires blazed across the Texas Panhandle toward the end of February and continue to plague cities primarily northeast of Amarillo. In fact, data from the Texas A&M Forest Service shows there were a whopping 12,411 wildfires in Texas in 2022 that burned more than 650,000 acres. In 2023, there were 7,530 that charred over 205,000 acres.

So, Texas certainly has more fires that spread over larger areas than California. However, with the density in California, it appears the damage to life and property tends to be greater in the Sunshine State.