Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Rotan, TX
No earthquake was likely felt in Rotan in the 24 hours to 5:18 am CST (11:18 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 12 km (7 mi) WSW, at 11:42 am CDT on 31 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rotan
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) west-southwest of Rotan, TX, at 8:39 am CDT on 15 March 2023 (13:39 UTC), 5.8 km deep.
USGS: 7 km WSW of Rotan, Texas
- When
- 8:39 am CDT on 15 March 2023 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) west-southwest of Rotan, TX · earthquakes near Rotan
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Fisher County, 17 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 365 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Rotan, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Rotan, 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Rotan, 8 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.7 on 2023-02-16 — about 45,000 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 32.8350, -100.5460. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fisher County, TX | 17 km (11 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Fisher County |
| Scurry County, TX | 36 km (22 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Scurry County |
| Kent County, TX | 44 km (27 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kent County |
| Stonewall County, TX | 47 km (29 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Stonewall County |
| Nolan County, TX | 59 km (37 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Nolan County |
| Jones County, TX | 64 km (40 mi) | E | earthquakes near Jones County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 western Texas
- 2.0 16 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
- 2.1 8 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
- 2.4 8 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
- 2.4 8 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
- 2.8 8 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
- 2.1 15 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
- 2.0 13 km NNW of Snyder, Texas
- 2.1 21 km N of Snyder, Texas
- 2.3 17 km N of Snyder, Texas
- 2.1 21 km N of Snyder, Texas
- 2.2 17 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
- 3.1 western Texas
- 3.1 18 km NNW of Snyder, Texas
- 2.4 17 km NE of Hermleigh, 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.