The mysterious 1925 ‘earthquake’ in Duval County

 

Ony recorded earthquakes in the area were nine miles east of Alice in 1997 and 2010.

POSTED BY: CARDENAS.AE@GMAIL.COM AUGUST 30, 2021

On November 4, 1925, the Hebbronville News reported A. J. Ayers of Duval County had reported a “young earthquake or two running wild” at his ranch, located 12 miles north of Hebbronville. Ayers told the newspaper that on three occasions he had heard “mysterious explosions” followed by rumbling.

Neither Ayers nor others who also heard the mysterious explosions were able to locate where they originated. He investigated the possibility that the noise came from oil wells in the area or ranchers removing stumps with dynamite. Neither the oil companies nor area ranchers reported using explosives. He said the

“explosions seemed to be muffled as if coming from deep in the earth.”

Ayers had no option but  to believe they were “seismic disturbances.”

The News reported the following week that the San Antonio Express had picked up the story and added another mystery. The San Antonio broadsheet noted that about the same time, an oil company drilling a well in the area had failed to strike bottom—it appeared to be a bottomless pit. Drillers dropped a rope down to 3,700 feet but never hit bottom. The Express wrote:

“The Lord only knows how wide and long the cavity is.”

While no one else has ever reported evidence of earthquakes, I will share a paragraph or two from my upcoming book, Soy de Duval, to suggest the idea is not entirely absurd.

Several faults or fractures, some as broad as three miles, exist in the county’s center. The Bordas Escarpment crosses the county in a southwesterly direction from the middle of its northern boundary to its western border. To those familiar with the county’s terrain, the Bordas line is not hard to visualize; it runs from the southwestern part of the old community of Borjas to the hills north of Freer.

East of the escarpment, the soil is sandy with caliche on the surface in many places. West of the slope, the Earth is clayey, moist, similar to clay in most areas, and a dense brush of chaparral, cactus, and mesquite covers this soil.

The far western edge of the county is topographically different. Small mounds dot the west part of Duval County. Some of the more notable hills are the Atravesada and Las Parrilla hills. Most of these hills, including Los Picachos north of Freer, are no more than 60 feet high. South of Freer is the Sarnosa Chiquita and Sarnosa Grande hills. A bit further southwest is Cedro Hill.

Because of their linear arrangement, some geologists believe that these hills are

evidence of a geologic fault route, indicating a crack in Earth’s crust.

The only recorded earthquake in the general area of Duval County occurred in 1997 and again in 2010 in Jim Wells County, when a 3.9 earthquake occurred nine miles east of Alice on FM 665. “They don’t happen very often in the area of South Texas,” Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey told the Alice Echo News Journal. “Earthquakes occur anywhere in the world.” 

¡Quién sabe!

As the writer in the San Antonio Express wrote:

“Mystery and excitement are great condiments of life.”

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• Kenneth Foster | September 1, 2021 at 5:32 am | Reply
  Thanks Alfredo