QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Midland, TX

USGS: 30 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas

42 km (26 mi) NNE of Midland, TX

1:23 pm CDT, Apr 30, 2021 · · 5.7 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Midland Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Martin County 10 kmDawson County 39 kmHoward County 54 kmAndrews County 61 kmMidland County 64 kmBorden County 65 kmGaines County 71 kmGlasscock County 74 kmEctor County 78 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
1:23 pm CDT on 30 April 2021 ()
Where
45 km (28 mi) N of Midland, TX · earthquakes near Midland
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
5.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Martin County, 10 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1979 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) N of Midland, TX, at 1:23 pm CDT on 30 April 2021 (18:23 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 2,800 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 32.3923, -101.9992. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Martin County, TX 10 km (6 mi) SSE earthquakes near Martin County
Dawson County, TX 39 km (24 mi) N earthquakes near Dawson County
Howard County, TX 54 km (33 mi) E earthquakes near Howard County
Andrews County, TX 61 km (38 mi) W earthquakes near Andrews County
Midland County, TX 64 km (40 mi) S earthquakes near Midland County
Borden County, TX 65 km (40 mi) NE earthquakes near Borden County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 11 km N of Midland, Texas
  2. 1.8 20 km N of Stanton, Texas
  3. 2.0 14 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  4. 1.5 16 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  5. 2.7 35 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  6. 2.7 17 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  7. 2.9 17 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  8. 2.5 17 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  9. 2.3 16 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  10. 1.7 17 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  11. 3.1 17 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  12. 2.3 18 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  13. 2.2 18 km N of Stanton, TX
  14. 3.1 34 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  15. 3.1 35 km WSW of Ackerly, 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.