Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1ml
Earthquake near Gardendale, TX
No earthquake was likely felt in Gardendale in the 24 hours to 1:11 am CST (07:11 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 47 km (29 mi) ENE, at 2:16 am CST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Gardendale
This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) east-northeast of Gardendale, TX, at 9:30 am CST on 15 December 2021 (15:30 UTC), 8.9 km deep. 32 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 14 km ENE of Gardendale, Texas
12 km (8 mi) WNW of Midland, TX
- When
- 9:30 am CST on 15 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) east-northeast of Gardendale, TX · earthquakes near Gardendale
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 32 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Midland County, 35 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1721 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Gardendale, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Gardendale, 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 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 128 km (80 mi) from the epicentre. In Gardendale, 15 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: Gardendale 15 km, intensity III · Midland 17 km, intensity III · Odessa 27 km, intensity III · Stanton 43 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 22 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 32.0645, -102.2350. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midland County, TX | 35 km (22 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Midland County |
| Ector County, TX | 36 km (23 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Ector County |
| Martin County, TX | 37 km (23 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Martin County |
| Andrews County, TX | 47 km (29 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Andrews County |
| Glasscock County, TX | 71 km (44 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glasscock County |
| Crane County, TX | 75 km (47 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Crane 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.
- 3.2 14 km ENE of Gardendale, Texas
- 1.5 33 km NNW of Midland, Texas
- 1.8 16 km NW of Midland, Texas
- 1.7 16 km NW of Midland, Texas
- 1.6 16 km NW of Midland, Texas
- 1.8 16 km NW of Midland, Texas
- 2.3 16 km NW of Midland, Texas
- 1.9 33 km NNW of Midland, Texas
- 1.5 33 km NNW of Midland, Texas
- 1.6 37 km ENE of McKinney Acres, Texas
- 1.9 16 km SSE of Stanton, Texas
- 2.1 10 km NE of Odessa, Texas
- 1.5 10 km NE of Odessa, Texas
- 1.9 10 km NNE of Odessa, Texas
- 1.5 10 km NNE of Odessa, 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.