Texas Oilfield Earthquake Damage in Reeves & Culberson Counties: Your Property, Their Injection Wells
At 4:30 in the morning on November 8, 2023, the ground in West Texas moved. Not a tremor — a 5.2 magnitude earthquake, northwest of Pecos, strong enough to be felt in El Paso and Roswell, New Mexico, tied for the fourth strongest ever recorded in this state. If you live in Reeves or Culberson County, you already know this. You felt it. You may have watched cracks spider across a wall you built your life around, or stood in a doorway while a home you paid for shook in a way no home in West Texas was ever supposed to shake. And you may have been told — by a neighbor, by the news, by the company truck parked at the injection well down the road — that this is just something that happens. An act of God. The earth doing what the earth does.
It is not. Scientists at the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin and researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey have linked the escalating seismic activity in this region to one specific human activity: the underground injection of millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater from hydraulic fracturing operations. And in late 2021, the Texas Railroad Commission — the state agency that regulates oil and gas — formally determined that the “unprecedented frequency” of significant earthquakes in Culberson and Reeves counties was likely being caused by the injection of salty water underground. That determination is not a theory. It is a regulatory finding by the agency that permits and oversees every injection well in this state.
We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC. We take Texas cases involving oilfield and industrial harm, and we built this page because what is happening in Reeves and Culberson Counties is not an act of God — it is a man-made disaster with a paper trail, a regulatory timeline, and a universe of defendants who knew what their wells were doing to the ground beneath your home. This page is legal information, not legal advice. Everything here is grounded in Texas law, the regulatory record, and the science that links injection to seismicity. If your property was damaged by the November 2023 earthquake — or by any quake in this escalating sequence — call us at 1-888-ATTY-911. The consultation is free, and we don’t get paid unless we win your case.
The Answer Core: Can You Sue Oil Companies for Earthquake Damage in Texas?
Yes — and the legal foundation is stronger than most people realize. Texas law gives property owners multiple legal theories to pursue companies whose underground wastewater injection has been linked to induced seismicity. The Railroad Commission’s own 2021 determination that injection activities likely cause the earthquakes in this region is an exceptionally powerful liability foundation — one that most mass tort cases never start with. Usually, the plaintiff has to prove causation from scratch. Here, the state regulator has already done half the work.
Here are the direct answers to the questions you are actually asking:
Can I sue for earthquake damage? Yes. These are not natural earthquakes — they are induced seismicity events linked to a specific industrial practice. Texas tort law provides claims for negligence, private nuisance, negligence per se, trespass, and potentially strict liability for ultrahazardous activity.
Who is responsible? The oilfield operating entities that hold the injection well permits, their parent or affiliated corporate entities, and the oilfield service companies that transported and delivered the produced water to injection sites. There are nearly 80 injection wells in the Culberson and Reeves County area — the defendant pool is broad and deep.
How long do I have? Texas generally gives you two years from the date of the injury-causing event to file a personal injury or property damage claim. For the November 8, 2023 earthquake, that clock is a hard deadline you cannot afford to approach slowly. The continuing-nuisance doctrine may extend limitations for ongoing seismic harm, but you should never count on an extension — act on the two-year rule.
What is my case worth? Individual property damage claims can range from $25,000 for minor foundation cracking to $500,000 or more for severe structural compromise requiring demolition and rebuild. A mass tort aggregate across Reeves and Culberson Counties could reach well into the tens of millions of dollars if widespread damage, infrastructure harm, business interruption, and personal injuries are documented.
Is this really caused by oilfield activity? The state’s own regulator said yes. The U.S. Geological Survey says yes. The Bureau of Economic Geology at UT-Austin says yes. This is not a close scientific question anymore — the only open question is which specific operators’ injection volumes contributed to which specific seismic events, and that is a question for expert seismological analysis, not a jury’s guess.
The Science: How Wastewater Injection Causes Earthquakes
To understand why you have a case, you need to understand what these companies are doing beneath your land — and why the ground is breaking because of it.
Hydraulic fracturing produces enormous volumes of contaminated, salty water — “produced water” — that comes up with the oil. This water is too toxic, too salty, and too contaminated to release at the surface. So the industry’s solution is to pump it back underground, deep into disposal formations, under pressure. Millions of gallons. Every single day. The Railroad Commission’s own data shows the scale: before the mandated reductions, companies in this area were injecting hundreds of millions of gallons per month into formations beneath Reeves and Culberson Counties.
The problem is geology. The Delaware Basin — the sub-region of the Permian Basin that underlies this area — is built on deep sedimentary formations riddled with ancient fault lines, many of them dormant for millions of years. When you pump pressurized fluid into these formations, you raise the pressure inside the rock. And when that pressure rises high enough, it can overcome the friction that has held those ancient faults locked in place. The fault slips. The ground moves. The earth shakes your home.
This is not speculation. It is the established mechanism of induced seismicity, recognized by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Economic Geology, and — critically — by the Texas Railroad Commission itself. The RRC’s 2021 determination was not a political statement. It was a scientific finding by the agency with primary regulatory authority over the very wells causing the problem.
And the science carries a warning that should terrify every property owner in this region: researchers at the USGS have said that earthquakes can persist for years after injections cease. The pressure that has been built up underground does not dissipate the moment the pumps stop. It continues to migrate, to pressurize new areas of the fault system, to reactivate faults that have not yet moved. The ground beneath Reeves and Culberson Counties may continue to shake long after the injection wells are finally shut down — which means the damage to your property may not be a single event. It may be a continuing, escalating harm.
The Regulatory Timeline: The Railroad Commission Knew, Ordered Changes, and the Earth Kept Shaking
The regulatory record in this case is not just helpful — it is the spine of the liability argument. Here is the timeline that matters:
Late 2021: The Texas Railroad Commission formally determined that the “unprecedented frequency” of significant earthquakes in Culberson and Reeves counties was likely being caused by the injection of salty water underground. This is a regulatory causation determination — the state agency that permits every injection well in Texas looked at the data and concluded that the wells it permitted were causing the earthquakes.
In late 2021, state regulators determined that the “unprecedented frequency” of significant earthquakes in Culberson and Reeves counties was likely being caused by the injection of salty water underground.
The RRC’s response: The Commission ordered companies in the region to create a plan to reduce the amount of water they were injecting underground. The plan was supposed to ensure that the frequency of 3.5 magnitude or higher earthquakes was decreasing after 18 months — which would have been September 2023.
November 2022: A 5.4 magnitude earthquake struck the same area — stronger than the November 2023 quake. The Railroad Commission responded by expanding the restricted area and asking companies to further reduce injection volumes to 162,000 barrels per day, or about 6.8 million gallons a day. That was a 68% decrease from the volume injected in January 2022.
August 2023: A 4.0 magnitude quake hit the same region, followed by several other 3.5 magnitude or higher quakes through the summer and fall. Scientists at UT-Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology noted that seismicity was “ramping up again recently in the last few months.”
November 8, 2023: The 5.2 magnitude earthquake — tied for the fourth strongest in Texas history — struck at 4:30 a.m. Central near the Reeves and Culberson County border, northwest of Pecos. It was the second 5.0 magnitude or greater earthquake to occur in the area in just over a year. As one USGS research geophysicist observed: “Obviously, the changes have not resulted in a reduced earthquake rate yet.”
The failure of the regulatory fix: Despite a mandated 68% reduction in injection volumes from January 2022 levels, seismic activity has continued to escalate. The 18-month deadline for reduced seismicity came and went. The plan was supposed to work by September 2023. In November 2023, the ground moved harder than it had in decades.
This timeline is the crown jewel of the liability case. The Railroad Commission determined causation. It ordered reductions. The companies reduced volumes. And the earthquakes got worse. That sequence — regulator identifies the cause, orders the fix, the fix fails, the harm escalates — is the narrative framework of a mass tort that is exceptionally difficult for the defense to dismantle. The companies cannot say they did not know. The regulator told them. They cannot say they did not have time to fix it. They had two years. They cannot say the quakes are natural. The state’s own regulator said they are not.
Who Is Responsible: The Defendant Universe in Reeves & Culberson Counties
When the ground shakes because of what was pumped beneath it, the companies that did the pumping are the ones who answer. But “the companies” is not one entity — it is a web of operating companies, parent corporations, and service contractors, each of which played a role in the chain of events that ended with a crack in your foundation.
Injection well operators and disposal-well permit holders of record. These are the entities that hold the Texas Railroad Commission permits authorizing subsurface injection. They bear primary operational responsibility for injection volumes, pressures, and compliance with seismic-response reduction orders. The RRC’s records identify who holds each permit — and there are nearly 80 injection wells in the Culberson and Reeves County area. Every one of those permit holders is a potential defendant.
Parent or affiliated corporate entities of the injection well operators. The company whose name is on the RRC permit is often a subsidiary or affiliate of a larger upstream oil and gas company. The parent entity directed or approved the produced-water disposal strategy, benefited from the cost savings of deep-well injection versus alternative treatment or recycling, and controlled the operational decisions now linked to induced seismicity. The parent is where the balance sheet lives — and in a mass tort involving property damage across two counties, reaching the parent is essential to meaningful recovery.
Oilfield service companies managing produced-water transportation and disposal logistics. These are the entities that collected, transported, and delivered produced water to injection sites. If you have driven US Highway 285 between Pecos and Carlsbad, you have seen their trucks — water haulers running day and night, carrying millions of gallons of produced water to disposal wells. Those trucks and the companies that dispatched them contributed to the aggregate volume that regulators identified as the seismicity driver.
This is the defendant map. The specific operators whose injection volumes contributed to the specific quakes that damaged your property is a question that requires expert seismological analysis — but the universe of potential defendants is defined by the RRC’s own permit records, which are public, retained per regulatory requirements, and available to identify exactly who was injecting what, where, and when.
The Legal Theories: Five Paths to Accountability Under Texas Law
Texas tort law provides multiple routes to hold injection well operators accountable for induced seismicity. Each theory has different elements, different proof requirements, and different strategic advantages. A well-pleaded case runs several of these simultaneously.
Negligence
Operators knew — or should have known — that continued high-volume injection in formations with known fault systems would likely induce damaging seismic activity. The Railroad Commission’s late-2021 determination and the November 2022 5.4 magnitude quake provided unmistakable notice. A company that continued to inject at high volumes after receiving explicit regulatory notice that its activities were causing earthquakes — and after being ordered to reduce those volumes — breached the duty of reasonable care that every operator owes to the people and property above its wells.
Private Nuisance
Texas law defines private nuisance as a substantial and unreasonable interference with a property owner’s use, enjoyment, and value of their land. The induced earthquakes are precisely that: a substantial interference (your home is shaking, your walls are cracking, your property value is declining) that is unreasonable (the operators could have reduced volumes, used alternative disposal methods, or ceased injection — they chose not to), and traceable to the defendants’ injection operations. The interference is continuous, escalating, and may persist for years even after injections stop.
Negligence Per Se
When a defendant violates a statute or regulation designed to protect against the exact harm that occurred, Texas law may treat that violation as negligence per se — meaning the violation itself establishes the breach of duty, without needing to separately prove that the defendant acted unreasonably. Violation of the Railroad Commission’s injection-volume reduction orders and regulatory requirements governing disposal-well operations is a strong candidate for negligence per se, because the RRC’s orders were specifically designed to prevent the exact harm — induced seismicity — that occurred.
Strict Liability for Ultrahazardous Activity
Texas courts have historically been reluctant to impose strict liability for oilfield operations. But the Restatement factors for abnormally dangerous activities — the high degree of risk, the gravity of potential harm, the inability to eliminate the risk with reasonable care, and the extent to which the activity is not a matter of common usage — are increasingly arguable for deep-well wastewater injection in known fault zones. When you pump millions of gallons of pressurized contaminated fluid into geologic formations that scientists have linked to earthquake activation, you are engaged in an activity that carries a foreseeable risk of harm that cannot be eliminated by reasonable care. No amount of care makes pressurized injection into faulted formations safe — the risk is inherent in the activity itself.
Trespass (Subsurface)
Induced seismic pressure waves and fault activation extending beneath properties not owned or leased by the operators may constitute a subsurface trespass — a physical invasion of the plaintiff’s subsurface estate by pressure and seismic energy that originated from the defendants’ injection activities. Texas recognizes subsurface trespass claims where a defendant’s conduct causes a physical invasion beneath another’s property. The seismic energy that damaged your home traveled through the subsurface estate beneath your land — that energy was generated by the defendants’ injection operations, and its invasion of your property is a physical, not merely consequential, harm.
The Evidence Clock: What Records Exist, Who Holds Them, and How Fast They Can Legally Disappear
Every induced-seismicity case is won or lost on the evidence that links specific injection operations to specific seismic events. That evidence exists right now — in government databases, in company files, and on seismometer recordings. But some of it is on a clock, and the clock is shorter than you think.
Injection well volume, pressure, and operational records. The Railroad Commission requires operators to report injection volumes, pressures, and operational data. These records establish the dose-response relationship — the volume and timing of wastewater injection correlated with seismic events. RRC records are retained per regulatory requirements, but company-specific operational telemetry and daily injection logs may be overwritten or purged under standard data-retention policies. These are the records that prove which operator injected how much water, when, and at what pressure — and they are the first thing a preservation demand should target.
Railroad Commission inspection reports, compliance correspondence, and enforcement actions. These document the regulatory timeline of notice: the 2021 determination, the reduction orders, the compliance status, and any violations. Government records are generally preserved, but informal communications, internal compliance memos, and operator self-reporting data may be difficult to obtain without swift discovery. The RRC’s correspondence with operators after the 2021 determination — especially any warnings, notices of violation, or compliance communications — is where the defendants’ actual knowledge is documented.
USGS seismic data, Bureau of Economic Geology monitoring records, and TexNet seismometer readings. This is the scientific foundation linking specific injection wells to specific seismic events through fault mapping, pressure modeling, and temporal correlation analysis. Continuous monitoring data is archived, but resolution and sensor calibration records may degrade. The TexNet seismometer network — Texas’s state-funded seismic monitoring program — provides the precise location, depth, and timing data that expert seismologists use to attribute seismic energy to specific injection activities. This data is the backbone of the causation case.
Structural damage assessments, property inspection reports, and insurance claim filings. These document the nature and extent of property damage causally linked to this specific seismic event, distinguishing pre-existing wear from earthquake-induced structural compromise. This is the most perishable evidence of all. Property owners may quickly repair damage without documentation. Insurance adjuster reports may be limited or partial. Weather and continued aftershocks may obscure or compound original damage patterns. Every crack, every displacement, every broken fixture must be photographed before it is repaired — because once the drywall is patched and the foundation is mud-jacked, the physical evidence of what the earthquake did to your home is gone.
Internal company communications regarding seismic risk, injection-volume compliance, and operational decisions. These may reveal actual knowledge of the seismic risk, deliberate decisions to prioritize production economics over injection reductions, and any post-quake internal assessments. Email retention policies vary by company, but oilfield companies typically cycle communication archives within three to seven years. A litigation hold notice must be issued promptly to prevent spoliation — the legal term for the destruction of evidence that should have been preserved. When a company lets required evidence die after receiving notice, the law answers: a jury may be told to assume the lost record was as bad as the plaintiff says it was.
The fastest-dying evidence drives the urgency. Company-specific operational telemetry may be overwritten on standard data-retention cycles. Structural damage gets repaired. Memories fade. The window to build a scientifically rigorous causation case narrows with each passing day — which is why the preservation letter goes out the day you call, not the month you call.
Damages and Case Value: What You Can Recover
An induced-seismicity case is a property damage and economic loss case at its core — but the damages categories are broader than most people realize, and the aggregate value across Reeves and Culberson Counties could be substantial.
Structural property damage. This is the primary damages category: foundation cracks, wall fractures, roof damage, compromised well casings, damaged infrastructure, and any structural element of your home, business, or outbuildings that was compromised by seismic shaking. Minor foundation and structural cracking can cost $25,000 or more to repair. Severe structural compromise requiring demolition and rebuild can exceed $500,000. The damage must be documented by a forensic structural engineer — not just a contractor — because the defense will argue that cracks were pre-existing or caused by normal settling, not by the earthquake.
Diminution in property value. Even after repairs, a property that has been damaged by induced seismicity may be worth less than it was before. Buyers know what happened. They know the quakes may continue. They know the ground beneath the house has been compromised. That diminution in value is a separate, recoverable damage — and in an area where the seismic risk is documented and ongoing, it may be the largest single component of the loss.
Business interruption. Commercial operations disrupted by seismic events — oilfield service companies, ranching operations, local businesses whose facilities or supply chains were affected — may recover for the income lost during the period of disruption. If your business had to close for repairs, if your inventory was damaged, if your supply chain was interrupted, those losses are recoverable.
Personal injury. If anyone was physically injured — by falling debris, by structural collapse, by any mechanism tied to the earthquake — those damages are recoverable. Texas also recognizes mental-anguish claims when tied to a physical injury or when the plaintiff was in the zone of danger and reasonably feared imminent serious bodily injury.
Punitive damages. This is where the Railroad Commission’s 2021 determination becomes a weapon. Punitive damages are warranted where evidence shows operators continued high-volume injection despite actual knowledge of the causal link to seismicity and explicit regulatory orders to reduce volumes. The pattern here is textbook: the RRC determined causation in 2021, a 5.4 magnitude quake struck in 2022, the RRC ordered a 68% reduction, and the companies continued injecting enough to generate a 5.2 magnitude quake in 2023. That is prior notice plus an ignored warning plus continued harm — the exact aggravator pattern that puts punitive damages on the table. Texas imposes statutory caps on punitive damages, but the economic damages stream — repair costs, diminution in value, business interruption — is not capped.
Case value ranges. Individual property damage claims from a single seismic event could range from $25,000 for minor structural cracking to $500,000 or more for severe structural compromise. The mass tort aggregate across Reeves and Culberson Counties could reach well into the tens of millions of dollars if widespread property damage, infrastructure harm, business interruption, and personal injuries are documented across the affected region. The Railroad Commission’s formal 2021 determination linking injection to seismicity provides an exceptionally strong liability foundation — one rarely seen in mass tort cases, where causation is usually the hardest element to prove.
These ranges depend on documenting specific damages and surviving the causation battle — proving which specific operators’ injection volumes contributed to which specific quake. That proof requires expert seismological and geophysical analysis, and it is the make-or-break element of every induced-seismicity case.
The Insurance and Industry Playbook: What the Companies Will Do — and How We Counter
The oil and gas industry has been dealing with lawsuits for decades. The insurance companies behind them have been dealing with injury and property damage claims for longer. When you file a claim for earthquake damage linked to injection wells, here is what they will do — and here is how each play is countered.
Play 1: “Act of God”
The play: The company or its insurer will characterize the earthquake as a natural phenomenon — an act of God — that no human activity caused or could have prevented. This is the first and most basic defense, and it is the one most easily dismantled.
The counter: The Texas Railroad Commission — the state agency that regulates oil and gas — determined in 2021 that the earthquakes in this area are likely caused by injection. The U.S. Geological Survey concurs. The Bureau of Economic Geology at UT-Austin concurs. This is not a natural event. It is an induced event with a documented, regulator-determined cause. An “act of God” defense collapses when the state’s own regulator has already determined that the act was man-made.
Play 2: “You Can’t Prove Our Well Caused This Quake”
The play: The defense will argue that with nearly 80 injection wells in the area, you cannot prove which specific operator’s injection volumes contributed to which specific seismic event. This is the causation battle — and it is the single hardest fight in an induced-seismicity case.
The counter: Expert seismologists and geophysicists with induced-seismicity expertise can build a fault-stress, injection-volume, and temporal-correlation model that attributes specific seismic energy to specific operators’ injection activities. The TexNet seismometer network provides precise hypocenter locations and depths. The RRC’s injection volume records provide the dose data. Fault mapping provides the geological pathway. Put together by the right expert, these data sets can attribute seismic energy to specific wells with a degree of scientific reliability that survives courtroom challenge.
Play 3: “We Were Following Our Permit”
The play: The defense will argue that they held valid Railroad Commission permits for their injection wells and were operating within the terms of those permits — and that compliance with a regulatory permit should shield them from liability.
The counter: A permit is not a license to cause damage. The RRC itself determined that the permitted activity was causing earthquakes and ordered reductions. Compliance with a permit that the permitting agency has determined is causing harm — and has ordered modified — is not a defense to nuisance, negligence, or trespass. The permit authorized injection; it did not authorize the resulting earthquakes, and the RRC said so.
Play 4: “Those Cracks Were Already There”
The play: The defense will argue that foundation cracks, wall fractures, and other structural damage pre-dated the earthquake — caused by normal settling, soil movement, or deferred maintenance — and that the quake did not cause the damage the plaintiff claims.
The counter: Pre-quake photographs, inspection records, and the timing of damage appearance tell the truth. A crack that appears overnight after a 5.2 magnitude quake is not settling. A foundation that was level before November 8, 2023 and is not level after is not deferred maintenance. A forensic structural engineer can distinguish earthquake-induced damage from pre-existing conditions through pattern analysis, displacement measurement, and the seismic-force modeling that shows exactly how the ground acceleration translated into structural stress.
Play 5: Economic and Community Pressure
The play: This is the most insidious play, and it is specific to West Texas. The oil and gas industry is the economic engine of Reeves and Culberson Counties. It employs a large share of the population. It funds the local economy. The defense will count on jury bias — on the fear that a verdict against the oil companies is a verdict against the community’s livelihood.
The counter: The law does not let a company cause property damage because it employs people. The right to earn a living does not include the right to shake your neighbor’s home off its foundation. And the companies that profit from injection wells are not the same as the local workers who earn wages — the profits flow to corporate parent entities and shareholders, many of them headquartered in Houston, Oklahoma City, or farther away. A trial lawyer who understands the venue — who can conduct voir dire that honestly addresses the industry’s economic role without pretending the damage is not real — is essential in a West Texas courtroom.
How a Case Is Built: The Proof Story
Here is how an induced-seismicity case is actually assembled — from the first phone call to the courtroom.
Week one: the preservation letter. The day you call, a litigation-hold and evidence-preservation letter goes out to every potential defendant and every relevant third party. That letter orders the injection well operators to freeze their operational telemetry, their daily injection logs, their internal communications about seismic risk, and their compliance correspondence with the RRC. It orders the preservation of TexNet and USGS seismic data. It demands that no physical evidence — including any damaged structures before repair — be altered. The letter is the clock-stopper. Without it, records cycle out, telemetry is overwritten, and internal emails are purged on schedule.
The regulatory record pull. A formal request for Railroad Commission records — injection well permits, volume reports, inspection findings, compliance correspondence, enforcement actions, and the 2021 determination file — establishes the regulatory timeline of notice and non-compliance. These are government records, generally preserved, but informal communications and operator self-reporting data require swift discovery to surface.
The expert retention. This is the make-or-break element. We retain seismologists and geophysicists with induced-seismicity expertise — ideally from institutions already studying this phenomenon — to build a fault-stress, injection-volume, and temporal-correlation model that attributes specific seismic energy to specific operators’ injection activities. This expert analysis is what turns “earthquakes are caused by injection” (the general causation the RRC already determined) into “this operator’s injection at this well on these dates contributed to this specific seismic event that damaged this specific property” (the specific causation a jury needs).
The structural damage documentation. A forensic structural engineer inspects and documents every crack, every displacement, every structural compromise — photographing, measuring, and mapping the damage pattern to distinguish earthquake-induced harm from pre-existing conditions. This inspection must happen before repairs are made, because the physical evidence is the proof.
Discovery and depositions. Once the case is filed, discovery targets internal company risk assessments, compliance dashboards, and executive communications produced after the 2021 RRC determination. The depositions are where the safety director, the compliance manager, and the operations executive explain — under oath — what they knew about the seismic risk, when they knew it, and what they chose to do about it. The number at the end of the case is built from all of this: the regulatory timeline, the expert causation model, the structural damage documentation, and the company’s own internal admissions.
First Steps: What to Do Right Now
If your property was damaged by the November 2023 earthquake — or by any quake in this escalating sequence — here is what you should do, and what you should not do, starting today.
Do photograph everything. Every crack, every displaced fixture, every door that no longer hangs square, every gap that was not there before November 8, 2023. Photograph from multiple angles with good lighting. Use a ruler or a coin in the photograph for scale. Date-stamp the images if your phone allows it. Do this before any repairs are made — because once the damage is fixed, the physical proof of what the earthquake did is gone.
Do preserve all repair estimates and receipts. If you must make emergency repairs — a tarp over a breached roof, a brace for a shifting wall — keep every receipt, every estimate, every contractor’s written assessment. The contractor’s observation of the damage, made before the repair, is contemporaneous evidence of what the quake did.
Do document the timeline. Write down when you first noticed each item of damage. Write down whether you were home when the quake hit and what you felt, saw, and heard. Write down the condition of your property before the quake — when you bought the home, when you last inspected the foundation, whether there were any pre-existing cracks (and if so, where and how large). This pre-quake baseline is what separates earthquake damage from normal wear, and the defense will fight that distinction.
Do call a lawyer promptly. Texas generally gives you two years from the date of the injury-causing event to file a property damage claim. That sounds like plenty of time, but the evidence-preservation clock is much shorter. The preservation letter needs to go out while the records still exist. The structural inspection needs to happen before repairs. The expert analysis takes months. Two years can feel like a long time until you realize the first six months are spoken for.
Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company — yours or the operators’. The adjuster who calls to “check on you” and asks you to “just tell us what happened” is building a record designed to minimize or deny your claim. Every word you say can and will be used to reduce what the company pays you. Politely decline and call a lawyer first.
Do not sign anything from an insurance company without having a lawyer review it. A check that arrives fast, with a release attached, is designed to close your claim before you know the full extent of the damage. That release may extinguish your right to recover for damage that appears later — and in an area where USGS scientists warn earthquakes may persist for years, the full extent of the damage may not be known for a long time.
Do not post about the damage on social media. Insurance investigators monitor social media. A photograph of you smiling near a damaged wall can be used to argue the damage was not as severe as you claim. A post about making repairs can be used to argue you mitigated any loss. Keep your damage documentation between you, your contractor, and your lawyer.
Do not assume it is too late. If you are reading this months or even a year after the earthquake, you may still have rights. The continuing-nuisance doctrine may apply to ongoing seismic harm, and the two-year clock may run differently than you think depending on when the damage was discovered. But the only way to know for certain is to ask — and the consultation is free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue oil companies for earthquake damage in Texas?
Yes. These are not natural earthquakes — they are induced seismicity events linked to oilfield wastewater injection, as determined by the Texas Railroad Commission itself. Texas law provides multiple legal theories — negligence, private nuisance, negligence per se, trespass, and potentially strict liability — to hold the operators accountable for property damage caused by their injection activities.
Who is responsible for the earthquakes in Reeves and Culberson Counties?
The oilfield operating entities that hold injection well permits in the area, their parent or affiliated corporate entities, and the oilfield service companies that managed produced-water transportation and disposal. There are nearly 80 injection wells in the Culberson and Reeves County area, according to Railroad Commission data. The specific operators whose injection volumes contributed to specific quakes is a question for expert seismological analysis — but the universe of potential defendants is defined by the RRC’s own permit records.
How long do I have to file a claim?
Texas generally gives you two years from the date of the injury-causing event to file a personal injury or property damage claim. For the November 8, 2023 earthquake, that deadline is fixed and approaching. The continuing-nuisance doctrine may extend limitations for ongoing seismic harm, but you should never rely on an extension — act on the two-year rule and talk to a lawyer promptly. The evidence-preservation clock is much shorter than the statute of limitations, which means waiting costs you proof even when it does not yet cost you rights.
What damages can I recover?
Structural property damage (foundation cracks, wall fractures, compromised infrastructure), diminution in property value, business interruption losses, personal injury if documented, and potentially punitive damages. Individual claims can range from $25,000 for minor cracking to $500,000 or more for severe structural compromise. The mass tort aggregate across the region could reach into the tens of millions of dollars.
Is this really caused by oilfield activity, or are these natural earthquakes?
The Texas Railroad Commission determined in late 2021 that the “unprecedented frequency” of significant earthquakes in Culberson and Reeves counties was likely being caused by the injection of salty water underground. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Economic Geology at UT-Austin concur. This is not a close scientific question — the state’s own regulator has determined that these earthquakes are man-made.
The Railroad Commission ordered companies to reduce injection volumes. Does that mean they fixed the problem?
No. Despite a mandated 68% reduction in injection volumes from January 2022 levels — down to 162,000 barrels per day — seismic activity has continued to escalate. A 5.4 magnitude quake struck in November 2022, multiple 3.5+ quakes shook the region through 2023, and the 5.2 magnitude quake struck in November 2023. USGS researchers have said earthquakes can persist for years even after injections cease, because the underground pressure that has been built up does not dissipate immediately.
Do I need a lawyer, or can I just file an insurance claim?
You can — and should — file an insurance claim, but you should also talk to a lawyer before you give any recorded statement or sign any release. The insurance adjuster’s job is to settle your claim for as little as possible, as fast as possible. A release you sign today may extinguish your right to recover for damage that appears later — and in an area where scientists warn the quakes may continue for years, the full extent of the harm may not be known for a long time. A lawyer protects your rights while the insurance process plays out.
What if I am afraid of community backlash for suing the oil companies?
This is a real concern in West Texas, where the oil and gas industry is the economic backbone of the community. But the law does not let a company damage your property because it employs your neighbors. The profits from injection wells flow to corporate parent entities and shareholders, many of them headquartered far from Pecos. And a case built on the Railroad Commission’s own determination is not an attack on the industry — it is a demand that the industry follow the rules the regulator already set. A trial lawyer who understands the venue can address these dynamics honestly with a jury.
Can earthquakes from injection wells really continue for years after the pumping stops?
Yes. U.S. Geological Survey researchers have said that in other areas where water injections caused seismic activity, earthquakes persisted for years after injections ceased. The pressure that builds up underground from millions of gallons of injected wastewater does not dissipate the moment the pumps stop. It continues to migrate through the formation, pressurizing new areas, reactivating faults that have not yet moved. This means the damage to your property may be a continuing harm — not a single event — and the law accounts for ongoing nuisance.
How much does it cost to hire a lawyer for an earthquake damage case?
Nothing upfront. We work on contingency — 33.33% before trial, 40% if the case goes to trial. We don’t get paid unless we win your case. The consultation is free. You can call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and you will speak to a live person — not an answering service. Call 1-888-ATTY-911.
The Firm: Who Stands With You
Ralph Manginello has spent 27+ years in Texas courtrooms, including federal court, as the managing partner of our firm. He was a journalist before he was a lawyer — he knows how to find the story the evidence tells, and he knows how to tell it to a jury. He is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and lead counsel in the active $10M+ hazing lawsuit against Pi Kappa Phi and the University of Houston. When Ralph takes a case, he does not file it and hope — he builds it from the evidence out, the way a reporter builds a story from the documents in. Read more about Ralph.
Lupe Peña is a former insurance-defense attorney who spent years inside a national defense firm — the rooms where adjusters and their software decided how to deny, delay, and devalue claims from people exactly like you. He knows how claims are valued from the inside, how IME doctors are selected, how surveillance is used, and how delay tactics work. Now he sits on your side of the table. Lupe is fluent in Spanish — he conducts full client consultations in Spanish without an interpreter. For the families of West Texas, many of whom are Spanish-speaking, that is not a courtesy. It is a right. Read more about Lupe.
Together, we handle toxic tort and environmental claims, oilfield and industrial injury cases, and catastrophic property damage litigation across Texas. We are based in Houston and Austin, and we take cases statewide. The firm has recovered more than $50 million for clients over more than two decades of practice. We have a 4.9-star Google rating from more than 251 reviews. We have been in business since July 18, 2001 — over 24 years. And we have 24/7 live staff. When you call at 2 a.m. because an aftershock just put a new crack in your bedroom wall, a person answers.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
If the Ground Moved Because of What They Pumped Beneath It, Call Us
The companies that injected millions of gallons of wastewater into the formations beneath your home knew — because the state told them — that their operations were causing earthquakes. They were ordered to reduce volumes. They did. And the ground kept shaking. The 5.2 magnitude quake on November 8, 2023 was not an act of God. It was the fourth-strongest earthquake in Texas history, and it happened because of a practice the state regulator had already determined was dangerous.
Your home is not supposed to crack because a company chose the cheapest way to dispose of its waste. Your property value is not supposed to decline because someone else’s injection well activated a fault line. Your business is not supposed to shut down because the ground shook at 4:30 in the morning. And you are not supposed to accept it as the price of living in oil country.
The consultation is free. We don’t get paid unless we win your case. Call us at 1-888-ATTY-911 — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, a live person answers. Or contact us online. Hablamos Español. We serve Reeves County, Culberson County, Pecos, and the entire Permian Basin region of West Texas.
The evidence is on a clock. The cracks can be patched. The telemetry can be overwritten. The memory of which wall moved first can fade. The day you call is the day the clock starts working for you instead of against you.