Three US states are rattled by a wave of earthquakes ranging from 3.0 to 5.0 magnitude... did YOU feel the shake?

Texas was hit by three earthquakes on Monday evening through Tuesday morning, with the largest felt 200 miles away from the epicenter.

Reports of the quakes flooded out of Texas after the first shook people awake in Hermleigh at 10.38pm, which registered as a 4.9 magnitude - the eighth strongest in the state's history. 

At least 1.6 million people as far away as Austin, southern Oklahoma and New Mexico experienced the event.

A 4.4 magnitude aftershock occurred less than 10 minutes after the initial earthquake and residents experienced a 3.1 magnitude in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

 The USGS issued a map with a star pointing to the epicenter of where the quake originated near Hermleigh and the blue circumference showed where the immediate shock extended

Northern Texas, where Hermleigh is located, doesn't sit on any major fault lines, but 250 minor ones extend outward 1,800 miles from the Dallas-Fort Worth area - which reaches the epicenter of Monday's quake.

The earthquake started near the Scurry-Fisher County line which is located 54 miles west of Abilene and 10 miles northeast of Hermleigh.

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Alarming animated map shows how Oklahoma and its neighboring states have been hit by frequent earthquakes since fracking began in 2009

The Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed that the earthquake started just 4.8 miles beneath the earth's surface. 

At their deepest, quakes can begin as far as 400 miles underground. 

Earthquakes that reach 43 miles or less are considered shallow and will only result in mild to moderate damage.

The seismology site Volcano Discovery reported that residents experienced notable shaking indoors which caused minor cracks in floors and ceilings and felt two aftershocks.

Some locals were shocked by the quakes, with one person exclaiming on X: 'Holy crap! 4.9 earthquake in Texas!!' 

Another person wrote: 'Guys I didn't have 'earthquake in Texas' on my bingo card for this full moon,' while someone simply commented: 'Whole lotta shaking last night in Texas, including two earthquakes east of Snyder, including a 4.9 magnitude tremor.'

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake hit northern Texas and impacted 1.6 million people as far away as Austin, southern Oklahoma and New Mexico

Although much of the US experiences naturally occurring quakes, the USGS reported that 'in some regions, such as the south-central states, a significant majority of recent earthquakes are thought by many seismologists to have been human-induced.' 

These activities have included the water impoundment behind dams, injecting fluid into the earth's crust, extracting fluid or gas and removing rock during mining efforts.

Because of this, residents rarely experience quakes or tremors, but scientists have speculated that the recent spate of earthquakes in Texas is largely due to hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.

Texas is listed as the number one state for fracking, and as of February 2017, it was home to 279,615 oil and gas wells but by 2023, that number had increased to 373,133 active wells.

This process involves miners drilling deep into the earth's surface and releasing high-pressure water that creates a small explosion to release natural gas and oil that can be used to create energy.

The action brings groundwater to the surface and when it is injected back into the ground, it puts pressure on fault lines, resulting in more earthquakes.

Although much of the US experiences naturally occurring quakes, the USGS reported that 'in some regions, such as the south-central states, a significant majority of recent earthquakes are thought by many seismologists to have been human-induced.' Pictured: A fracking site in Garden City, Texas

Researchers have reported that seismic activity in Texas has increased since 2018 and 81 percent of earthquakes with a 2.5 magnitude or greater have been recorded since 2020.

More than 200 earthquakes with a magnitude of three or greater shook Texas in 2021 alone, more than double the number recorded from the year before.

Locals have long complained about hydraulic fracturing in the region, with one person saying they were moving to central or southwest Texas to avoid the increasing number of earthquakes.

'The damage [from fracking] is done, and now we're just paying that price. And this is what it is,' one resident told the Texas Tribune in 2022.