QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Stanton, TX

No earthquake was likely felt in Stanton in the 24 hours to 5:43 pm CST (23:43 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 28 km (17 mi) S, at 4:17 am CST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stanton

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) north of Stanton, TX, at 5:44 pm CST on 5 January 2023 (23:44 UTC), 5.8 km deep.

USGS: 20 km N of Stanton, Texas

42 km (26 mi) NE of Midland, TX

5:44 pm CST, Jan 5, 2023 · · 5.8 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Martin County 13 kmHoward County 37 kmDawson County 49 kmGlasscock County 57 kmMidland County 58 kmBorden County 60 kmAndrews County 76 kmEctor County 84 kmMitchell County 85 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
5:44 pm CST on 5 January 2023 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) north of Stanton, TX · earthquakes near Stanton
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
5.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Martin County, 13 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1365 days ago

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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Stanton, 21 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.

Likely felt in: Stanton 21 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 5.2 on 2022-12-16 — about 63,000 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 32.3117, -101.8277. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Martin County, TX 13 km (8 mi) W earthquakes near Martin County
Howard County, TX 37 km (23 mi) E earthquakes near Howard County
Dawson County, TX 49 km (31 mi) NNW earthquakes near Dawson County
Glasscock County, TX 57 km (36 mi) SSE earthquakes near Glasscock County
Midland County, TX 58 km (36 mi) SSW earthquakes near Midland County
Borden County, TX 60 km (37 mi) NE earthquakes near Borden 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. 2.4 14 km ESE of Stanton, Texas
  2. 2.2 22 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  3. 2.1 22 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  4. 1.8 19 km N of Stanton, Texas
  5. 1.9 western Texas
  6. 2.4 21 km N of Stanton, Texas
  7. 1.5 31 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  8. 1.8 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  9. 1.7 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  10. 1.5 34 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas
  11. 2.2 western Texas
  12. 1.7 17 km N of Stanton, Texas
  13. 2.1 6 km SE of Ackerly, Texas
  14. 2.0 6 km SE of Ackerly, Texas
  15. 1.5 37 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.