March 24, 2026 - It is somewhat rare, but when it happens, the collapse of coal mine longwalls can feel like an earthquake, and it shows up on seismographs. One such incident occurred in northern Tuscaloosa County last Friday. The event registering 2.2 on a seismograph, was recorded at 5:40 a.m., less than 10 miles west of Rock Creek. It is an area of the county where Jim Walter Resources pioneered the technique.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) issued the following summary of the seismic detection:  

• The event produced measurable seismic waves recorded by monitoring stations
• Its signal differed from a typical earthquake
• Analysts identified it as consistent with a collapse-type seismic event

Longwall collapses can occur intentionally or by accident when rock walls shift. The Friday event again raised concerns about longwall mines, especially abandoned ones, among some West Alabama residents. 

Deep mines appeared after the civil war, but modern longwall mechanized high-production mines came to the Brookwood area with Mine #4 in around 1972. That method of underground coal mining became standard by the late 1980s and is being used by Met Coal in its new Blue Creek Mine launched this year.

Structural collapses of longwalls happen in active and abandoned longwall mines often enough to be a worry. The biggest being the escape of methane gasses that can cause fatal explosions like the one that killed 13 miners at Jim Waler #5 in Brookwood in 2001 and in Oak Grove in 2024 when a grandfather was killed and his grandson injured on the surface.

Since 1982, the federal government has allowed Alabama to regulate for itself the surface impacts of underground mining. That has brought criticism from residents and activists alike alleging the state puts coal companies ahead of public safety.

In Alabama, property rights can be split. The owner of the surface property does not necessarily own the mineral property rights underneath. That rule has given coal companies the legal right to develop and mine longwalls under residential property on the surface.

Activists and residents alike point-out that subsidence from longwall mines under residential areas are resulting in cracked foundations, flooring and interior and exterior walls.

A USGS report filed in 1977 highlighted issues related to surface and below surface mining issues in Alabama. Some critics claim the problems highlighted are still there.

Stricter regulation of methane emissions from underground mines issued during the Biden Administration are being rolled back by President Trump's Interior Department. Secretary Doug Burgum visited two Warrior Met mines and emphasized the administration's commitment to lifting regulations on the extraction of 'clean beautiful coal.'

With Warrior Met winning a significant federal auction for coal deposits at Blue Creek and with the jobs and the hundreds of millions in money involved in the Tuscaloosa County project, activists fear more rumbling from the ground in the future.

As for Warrior Met, the company website points to a commitment to safety, The company, "...incident rate remains over 32% better than the U.S. industry rate for underground mining and 53% better than the U.S. national incidence rate for 2025."