Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Karnes City, TX
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Karnes City in the last 24 hours. M 3.1, 101 km (63 mi) W of Karnes City, at 3:20 am CST on 12 November 2026 (09:20 UTC); the estimated shaking in Karnes City was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Karnes City
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) north of Karnes City, TX, at 11:49 pm CST on 21 December 2018 (05:49 UTC), 7.2 km deep.
USGS: 9 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
76 km (47 mi) SE of San Antonio, TX
- When
- 11:49 pm CST on 21 December 2018 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) north 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
- 7.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Karnes County, 14 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 498 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Karnes City, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Karnes City, TX. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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, 15 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.
Likely felt in: Karnes City 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- 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 29.0170, -97.9250. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnes County, TX | 14 km (9 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Karnes County |
| Wilson County, TX | 23 km (15 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Wilson County |
| DeWitt County, TX | 55 km (34 mi) | E | earthquakes near DeWitt County |
| Atascosa County, TX | 61 km (38 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Atascosa County |
| Goliad County, TX | 62 km (39 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Goliad County |
| Guadalupe County, TX | 63 km (39 mi) | N | earthquakes near Guadalupe County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 4 km SE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.9 3 km ESE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.8 3 km SE of Falls City, Texas
- 2.4 2 km E of Falls City, Texas
- 2.0 2 km ESE of Falls City, Texas
- 2.2 3 km E of Falls City, Texas
- 2.7 2 km E of Falls City, Texas
- 2.4 8 km NNE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.5 9 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.8 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.6 11 km E of Smiley, Texas
- 2.2 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.8 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.7 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.7 8 km ESE 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.