QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Midland, TX

USGS: 14 km NNW of Midland, Texas

11 km (7 mi) NNW of Midland, TX

5:15 am CDT, Apr 30, 2021 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Midland Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Martin County 27 kmMidland County 36 kmEctor County 47 kmAndrews County 52 kmGlasscock County 64 kmHoward County 69 kmDawson County 72 kmGaines County 84 kmCrane 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
5:15 am CDT on 30 April 2021 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) NNW of Midland, TX · earthquakes near Midland
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
30 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Martin County, 27 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1910 days ago

A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) NNW of Midland, TX, at 5:15 am CDT on 30 April 2021 (10:15 UTC). 30 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: Gardendale.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× more

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 16 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 32.1176, -102.1386. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Martin County, TX 27 km (17 mi) NE earthquakes near Martin County
Midland County, TX 36 km (22 mi) SSE earthquakes near Midland County
Ector County, TX 47 km (29 mi) SW earthquakes near Ector County
Andrews County, TX 52 km (32 mi) WNW earthquakes near Andrews County
Glasscock County, TX 64 km (40 mi) ESE earthquakes near Glasscock County
Howard County, TX 69 km (43 mi) ENE earthquakes near Howard 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. 2.2 18 km N of Stanton, TX
  2. 3.1 34 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  3. 3.1 35 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  4. 2.0 16 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  5. 1.7 11 km N of Midland, Texas
  6. 2.2 12 km N of Midland, Texas
  7. 1.7 7 km SE of Midland, Texas
  8. 2.2 15 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  9. 2.4 15 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  10. 1.9 16 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  11. 1.8 16 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  12. 2.1 15 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  13. 2.2 5 km SE of Gardendale, Texas
  14. 1.6 38 km ENE of McKinney Acres, Texas
  15. 1.5 39 km ENE of McKinney Acres, 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.