Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2ml
western Texas
Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded in western Texas, 12 km (8 mi) NW of Midland, TX, at 3:12 am CST on 21 December 2022 (09:12 UTC), 7.8 km deep. 35 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
12 km (8 mi) NW of Midland, TX
- When
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- 35 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Martin County, 32 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1352 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Midland, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Midland, 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 190 km (118 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Midland 17 km, intensity III · Gardendale 20 km, intensity III · Odessa 33 km, intensity III · Stanton 39 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,900 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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
- 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 5.2 on 2022-12-16 — about 1,000 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 32.1085, -102.2007. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin County, TX | 32 km (20 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Martin County |
| Midland County, TX | 38 km (23 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Midland County |
| Ector County, TX | 42 km (26 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Ector County |
| Andrews County, TX | 47 km (29 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Andrews County |
| Glasscock County, TX | 69 km (43 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glasscock County |
| Dawson County, TX | 74 km (46 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Dawson County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 37 km NW of Stanton, Texas
- 1.8 7 km SE of Gardendale, Texas
- 2.2 26 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas
- 2.0 30 km ESE of Midland, Texas
- 2.2 22 km NNW of Midland, Texas
- 2.1 22 km NNW of Midland, Texas
- 1.8 19 km N of Stanton, Texas
- 1.9 western Texas
- 2.4 21 km N of Stanton, Texas
- 1.5 31 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
- 1.8 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
- 1.7 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
- 1.5 30 km ESE of Midland, Texas
- 1.5 34 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas
- 2.2 western 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.