QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Amarillo, TX

USGS: 7 km SE of Amarillo, Texas

7 km (4 mi) ESE of Amarillo, TX

4:22 am CST, Mar 10, 2023 · · 4.4 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Amarillo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Randall County 26 kmPotter County 27 kmArmstrong County 44 kmCarson County 45 kmSwisher County 72 kmMoore County 74 kmOldham County 80 kmDeaf Smith County 81 kmHutchinson County 82 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
4:22 am CST on 10 March 2023 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) SE of Amarillo, TX · earthquakes near Amarillo
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
4.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Randall County, 26 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1302 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) SE of Amarillo, TX, at 4:22 am CST on 10 March 2023 (10:22 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Canyon, Bushland.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 35.1755, -101.7649. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Randall County, TX 26 km (16 mi) SSW earthquakes near Randall County
Potter County, TX 27 km (17 mi) NNW earthquakes near Potter County
Armstrong County, TX 44 km (27 mi) ESE earthquakes near Armstrong County
Carson County, TX 45 km (28 mi) NE earthquakes near Carson County
Swisher County, TX 72 km (45 mi) S earthquakes near Swisher County
Moore County, TX 74 km (46 mi) N earthquakes near Moore County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 13 km S of Claude, Texas
  2. 1.8 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  3. 1.8 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  4. 2.0 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  5. 2.1 7 km NNE of Amarillo, Texas
  6. 1.9 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  7. 1.7 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  8. 2.5 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  9. 2.0 11 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  10. 1.9 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  11. 2.2 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  12. 2.7 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  13. 2.3 8 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  14. 2.8 15 km NE of Amarillo, Texas
  15. 2.6 13 km NNE of Amarillo, 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.