QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

34 km NW of Toyah, Texas

Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 34 km NW of Toyah, Texas, at 9:52 am CST on 13 January 2023 (15:52 UTC), 8.5 km deep.

· 8.5 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Reeves County 40 kmCulberson County 50 kmLoving County 54 kmWard County 87 kmWinkler County 96 kmEddy County 104 kmJeff Davis County 104 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
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
8.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Reeves County, 40 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1394 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 9 km (6 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.

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 5.4 on 2022-11-16 — about 350,000 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 31.5526, -104.0194. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Reeves County, TX 40 km (25 mi) SE earthquakes near Reeves County
Culberson County, TX 50 km (31 mi) WSW earthquakes near Culberson County
Loving County, TX 54 km (34 mi) NE earthquakes near Loving County
Ward County, TX 87 km (54 mi) E earthquakes near Ward County
Winkler County, TX 96 km (60 mi) ENE earthquakes near Winkler County
Eddy County, NM 104 km (65 mi) NNW earthquakes near Eddy County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 61 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  2. 1.7 36 km NNW of Toyah, Texas
  3. 1.5 49 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  4. 1.5 52 km W of Mentone, Texas
  5. 2.3 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  6. 1.7 13 km NNW of Toyah, Texas
  7. 1.7 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  8. 1.5 38 km NNW of Toyah, Texas
  9. 2.6 61 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  10. 2.0 western Texas
  11. 1.7 58 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  12. 2.4 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  13. 1.9 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  14. 2.3 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  15. 1.8 15 km NNW of Toyah, 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.