Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Cuero, TX
No earthquake was likely felt in Cuero in the 24 hours to 9:00 pm CST (03:00 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 47 km (29 mi) NNE, at 2:54 pm CDT on 25 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cuero
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) west-northwest of Cuero, TX, at 7:09 am CDT on 21 March 2021 (12:09 UTC), 5.4 km deep.
USGS: 10 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
95 km (59 mi) ESE of San Antonio, TX
- When
- 7:09 am CDT on 21 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 32 km (20 mi) west-northwest of Cuero, TX · earthquakes near Cuero
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- DeWitt County, 26 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 498 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cuero, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cuero, 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Cuero, 32 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: Nixon, Yorktown.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 4,000 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 29.1740, -97.6030. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeWitt County, TX | 26 km (16 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near DeWitt County |
| Gonzales County, TX | 34 km (21 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Gonzales County |
| Karnes County, TX | 38 km (24 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Karnes County |
| Wilson County, TX | 47 km (29 mi) | W | earthquakes near Wilson County |
| Guadalupe County, TX | 56 km (35 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Guadalupe County |
| Goliad County, TX | 59 km (37 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Goliad County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.6 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.5 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.5 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.6 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 2.5 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 2.1 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.8 7 km N of Nordheim, Texas
- 1.8 13 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.5 8 km N of Nordheim, Texas
- 1.7 7 km N of Nordheim, Texas
- 2.4 8 km N of Nordheim, Texas
- 1.8 7 km N of Nordheim, Texas
- 1.8 6 km NNW of Nordheim, Texas
- 1.7 5 km NNW of Nordheim, 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.