US: Earthquake Rattles Big Country: What's Possibly Behind Them?

Snyder, Texas -- People from Abilene to Midland reported feeling an earthquake that was centered northeast of Snyder Sunday morning.
Earthquakes often occur near Snyder, but this was the second strongest on record behind the memorable 5.3 quake in 1978. Records go back to 1977.
"It was a really heavy loud rumble that came up out of nowhere," said Snyder resident Lance Soria.
"Just sitting there and the house started shaking so I looked up at the roof to see if anything was going to fall," said Snyder Resident Steve Mackey.
The 4.4 magnitude quake hit around 7:30 AM Sunday morning in northeast Scurry County. Residents of Snyder have experienced at least seven earthquakes since Sunday morning.
"To have them this close together is definitely a bit alarming," said Lisa Crump who was raised in Snyder.
Geology Professor Mark Ouimette at Hardin-Simmons told us the reason we're likely seeing earthquakes here is because of fluids moving beneath the Earth.
"You've got water from the Ogallala aquifer, although it's less than a mile deep and you've got oil and petroleum and natural gas that's migrating and we're pumping it out," said Ouimette. CONTINUE