QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Lamesa, TX

No earthquake was likely felt in Lamesa in the 24 hours to 9:10 pm CST (03:10 UTC). The last one was M 3.7, 244 km (152 mi) WSW, at 4:27 pm CDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lamesa

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) south-southwest of Lamesa, TX, at 2:42 am CDT on 26 August 2023 (07:42 UTC), 9.1 km deep.

USGS: 29 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas

50 km (31 mi) N of Midland, TX

2:42 am CDT, Aug 26, 2023 · · 9.1 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Martin County 19 kmDawson County 31 kmAndrews County 59 kmHoward County 59 kmGaines County 63 kmBorden County 64 kmMidland County 73 kmLynn County 81 kmEctor 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
2:42 am CDT on 26 August 2023 ()
Where
31 km (19 mi) south-southwest of Lamesa, TX · earthquakes near Lamesa
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
9.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Martin County, 19 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1110 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 128 km (80 mi) from the epicentre. In Lamesa, 31 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Lamesa 31 km, intensity III · Stanton 45 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× more

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 1,400 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 32.4710, -102.0399. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Martin County, TX 19 km (12 mi) SSE earthquakes near Martin County
Dawson County, TX 31 km (19 mi) NNE earthquakes near Dawson County
Andrews County, TX 59 km (37 mi) WSW earthquakes near Andrews County
Howard County, TX 59 km (37 mi) ESE earthquakes near Howard County
Gaines County, TX 63 km (39 mi) WNW earthquakes near Gaines County
Borden County, TX 64 km (40 mi) ENE earthquakes near Borden County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 23 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  2. 1.9 36 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas
  3. 2.0 37 km NW of Stanton, Texas
  4. 1.6 23 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  5. 2.6 36 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas
  6. 2.0 32 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas
  7. 2.0 22 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  8. 1.5 23 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  9. 1.7 22 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  10. 1.5 23 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  11. 1.8 23 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  12. 3.5 22 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  13. 1.8 western Texas
  14. 2.4 20 km N of Stanton, Texas
  15. 2.6 20 km N of Stanton, 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.