QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7ml

Earthquake near Nixon, TX

No earthquake was likely felt in Nixon in the 24 hours to 8:00 am CST (14:00 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 122 km (76 mi) WSW, at 3:20 am CST on 12 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Nixon

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) south of Nixon, TX, at 10:39 am CST on 5 November 2020 (16:39 UTC), 7.4 km deep.

USGS: 19 km S of Nixon, Texas

83 km (52 mi) ESE of San Antonio, TX

10:39 am CST, Nov 5, 2020 · · 7.4 km deep · released about 340 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Karnes County 22 kmWilson County 31 kmDeWitt County 41 kmGonzales County 50 kmGuadalupe County 57 kmGoliad County 59 kmBee County 75 kmAtascosa County 77 kmBexar County 82 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
10:39 am CST on 5 November 2020 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) south of Nixon, TX · earthquakes near Nixon
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.7 (ml)
Depth
7.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Karnes County, 22 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

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

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 56 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Nixon, 19 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Nixon 19 km, intensity III · Stockdale 24 km, intensity III · Karnes City 26 km, intensity III · Yorktown 30 km, intensity II · Floresville 37 km, intensity II · Cuero 48 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 340 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 340 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 89 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 29.0930, -97.7800. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Karnes County, TX 22 km (13 mi) SSW earthquakes near Karnes County
Wilson County, TX 31 km (19 mi) WNW earthquakes near Wilson County
DeWitt County, TX 41 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near DeWitt County
Gonzales County, TX 50 km (31 mi) NE earthquakes near Gonzales County
Guadalupe County, TX 57 km (35 mi) NNW earthquakes near Guadalupe County
Goliad County, TX 59 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Goliad County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 3 km SSE of Falls City, Texas
  2. 2.3 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  3. 1.5 17 km SSE of Stockdale, Texas
  4. 2.0 11 km SSW of Smiley, Texas
  5. 1.5 10 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  6. 1.8 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  7. 2.0 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  8. 2.5 10 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  9. 1.6 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  10. 2.0 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  11. 3.4 10 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  12. 1.8 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  13. 2.0 10 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  14. 2.2 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  15. 2.8 9 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.