QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Stanton, TX

USGS: 16 km N of Stanton, Texas

43 km (26 mi) NE of Midland, TX

6:42 am CST, Feb 28, 2021 · · 6.4 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Stanton Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Martin County 18 kmHoward County 32 kmGlasscock County 52 kmDawson County 54 kmMidland County 56 kmBorden County 60 kmMitchell County 80 kmAndrews County 81 kmSterling County 84 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
6:42 am CST on 28 February 2021 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) N of Stanton, TX · earthquakes near Stanton
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
6.4 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Martin County, 18 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1968 days ago

A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) N of Stanton, TX, at 6:42 am CST on 28 February 2021 (12:42 UTC). 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Big Spring.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 2020-12-31 — about 32 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 32.2787, -101.7763. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Martin County, TX 18 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Martin County
Howard County, TX 32 km (20 mi) E earthquakes near Howard County
Glasscock County, TX 52 km (32 mi) SSE earthquakes near Glasscock County
Dawson County, TX 54 km (34 mi) NNW earthquakes near Dawson County
Midland County, TX 56 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Midland County
Borden County, TX 60 km (37 mi) NNE earthquakes near Borden County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 9 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  2. 1.6 28 km ESE of Midland, Texas
  3. 1.5 10 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  4. 1.7 15 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  5. 2.8 western Texas
  6. 1.8 39 km ENE of McKinney Acres, Texas
  7. 2.0 29 km W of Garden City, Texas
  8. 1.8 15 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  9. 2.3 15 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  10. 2.1 15 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  11. 1.9 16 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  12. 2.2 14 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  13. 1.5 western Texas
  14. 2.0 13 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  15. 2.4 15 km NNW of Midland, 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.