Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Big Spring, TX
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Big Spring in the last 24 hours. M 2.5, 41 km (26 mi) ESE of Big Spring, at 5:05 pm CST on 11 November 2026 (23:05 UTC); the estimated shaking in Big Spring was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Big Spring
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Big Spring, TX, at 7:20 pm CST on 17 January 2023 (01:20 UTC), 7.5 km deep.
USGS: 26 km NW of Westbrook, Texas
- When
- 7:20 pm CST on 17 January 2023 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Big Spring, TX · earthquakes near Big Spring
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Borden County, 32 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 372 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Spring, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Spring, 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 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Spring, 40 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.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
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 32.5300, -101.2040. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borden County, TX | 32 km (20 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Borden County |
| Howard County, TX | 33 km (21 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Howard County |
| Scurry County, TX | 36 km (22 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Scurry County |
| Mitchell County, TX | 36 km (23 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Mitchell County |
| Garza County, TX | 73 km (46 mi) | N | earthquakes near Garza County |
| Dawson County, TX | 74 km (46 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Dawson County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
24 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 western Texas
- 1.6 8 km WNW of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.6 8 km WNW of Westbrook, Texas
- 2.1 6 km SE of Ackerly, Texas
- 2.0 6 km SE of Ackerly, Texas
- 2.4 18 km N of Snyder, Texas
- 2.0 24 km NW of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.7 17 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
- 2.0 16 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
- 3.0 17 km N of Snyder, Texas
- 1.6 16 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
- 1.5 2 km SSE of Coahoma, Texas
- 1.7 8 km S of Ackerly, Texas
- 2.3 7 km WNW of Westbrook, Texas
- 2.0 7 km WNW of Westbrook, 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.