QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Alpine, TX

USGS: 13 km NNE of Alpine, Texas

2:31 pm CDT, Aug 6, 2020 · · 2.3 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Alpine Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Jeff Davis County 59 kmBrewster County 81 kmPresidio County 82 kmPecos County 91 kmReeves County 93 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
2:31 pm CDT on 6 August 2020 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) NNE of Alpine, TX · earthquakes near Alpine
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
2.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Jeff Davis County, 59 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 519 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) NNE of Alpine, TX, at 2:31 pm CDT on 6 August 2020 (19:31 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 13 km NW of Marathon, Texas · 32 km SE of this epicentre

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 30.4730, -103.6010. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Jeff Davis County, TX 59 km (37 mi) WNW earthquakes near Jeff Davis County
Brewster County, TX 81 km (50 mi) SSE earthquakes near Brewster County
Presidio County, TX 82 km (51 mi) SW earthquakes near Presidio County
Pecos County, TX 91 km (56 mi) ENE earthquakes near Pecos County
Reeves County, TX 93 km (58 mi) N earthquakes near Reeves County
Ward County, TX 125 km (78 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ward County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 18 km SE of Balmorhea, Texas
  2. 2.3 13 km WSW of Fort Davis, Texas
  3. 1.8 33 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  4. 1.5 28 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  5. 1.7 32 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  6. 1.9 33 km SE of Balmorhea, Texas
  7. 1.6 15 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  8. 1.7 20 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  9. 1.8 22 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  10. 1.5 21 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  11. 1.7 11 km NNE of Alpine, Texas
  12. 1.5 21 km SE of Alpine, Texas
  13. 1.8 33 km SE of Balmorhea, Texas
  14. 2.7 27 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  15. 1.9 24 km ESE of Balmorhea, 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.