Sinkhole risk in Hudspeth County, TX: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 38%
At or near the surface: 38%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Hudspeth County

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 1,737 of Hudspeth County's 4,571 square miles on soluble rock, 1,737 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 3,608 residents (1 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 303 map points about 3.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Hudspeth County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Eddy County, NM, about 94 miles northeast. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Culberson County, TX 50 mi east · 53% at surface
El Paso County, TX 55 mi northwest · 21% at surface
Otero County, NM 83 mi north · 59% at surface
Jeff Davis County, TX 90 mi southeast · 3% at surface
Eddy County, NM 94 mi northeast · 41% at surface
Reeves County, TX 99 mi east · 9% at surface

What Hudspeth County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Hueco Limestone (limestone), Permian; Wolfcamp Series in age, covering about 9% of the county. Next is the Victorio Peak Formation at 7%.

5% of the county sits on gypsum or salt, which dissolves in years rather than millennia. That share matters more than its size suggests.

Against the rest of Texas

Hudspeth County ranks 68 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 83% of US counties on that measure.