QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Karnes City, TX

No earthquake was likely felt in Karnes City in the 24 hours to 8:40 am CST (14:40 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 101 km (63 mi) W, at 3:20 am CST on 12 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Karnes City

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) north-northeast of Karnes City, TX, at 9:43 am CST on 26 November 2018 (15:43 UTC), 7.0 km deep.

USGS: 16 km ENE of Falls City, Texas

80 km (50 mi) SE of San Antonio, TX

9:43 am CST, Nov 26, 2018 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Karnes County 14 kmWilson County 27 kmDeWitt County 48 kmGoliad County 59 kmGonzales County 59 kmGuadalupe County 61 kmAtascosa County 68 kmBee County 70 kmBexar County 79 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
9:43 am CST on 26 November 2018 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) north-northeast of Karnes City, TX · earthquakes near Karnes City
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Karnes County, 14 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 499 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Karnes City, 17 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Runge, Poth, Kenedy, Stockdale, Nixon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2018-05-01 — about 2,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 29.0360, -97.8570. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Karnes County, TX 14 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Karnes County
Wilson County, TX 27 km (17 mi) NW earthquakes near Wilson County
DeWitt County, TX 48 km (30 mi) E earthquakes near DeWitt County
Goliad County, TX 59 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Goliad County
Gonzales County, TX 59 km (37 mi) NE earthquakes near Gonzales County
Guadalupe County, TX 61 km (38 mi) N earthquakes near Guadalupe County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 9 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
  2. 1.8 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
  3. 1.6 11 km E of Smiley, Texas
  4. 2.2 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
  5. 1.8 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
  6. 1.7 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
  7. 1.7 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
  8. 3.0 13 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
  9. 2.5 23 km WNW of Pawnee, Texas
  10. 2.5 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
  11. 1.7 13 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  12. 2.3 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  13. 1.9 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  14. 1.8 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  15. 2.2 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.