Eddy County residents experienced a 5.3 magnitude earthquake at 2:32 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16. According to European Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) the earthquake was centered 28 miles from Pecos, Texas, and was at a depth of 1.24 miles. There have been 546 earthquakes in Eddy County since 1931, with a high of 278 in 2021 that were above 2.5 magnitude. There has been record setting seismic activity in the Permian Basin in recent years. Between 2018 and 2020, Texas recorded nine earthquakes above magnitude 4, almost all of them in the western half of the state. In 2021 Texans were shaken by 15 earthquakes above magnitude 4 – including a 4.6 magnitude earthquake in late December 2021 with an epicenter about 30 miles northeast of Midland.