QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Karnes City, TX

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Karnes City in the last 24 hours. M 3.1, 101 km (63 mi) W of Karnes City, at 3:20 am CST on 12 November 2026 (09:20 UTC); the estimated shaking in Karnes City was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Karnes City

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Karnes City, TX, at 4:47 am CDT on 10 September 2023 (09:47 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 16 km ENE of Falls City, Texas

79 km (49 mi) SE of San Antonio, TX

4:47 am CDT, Sep 10, 2023 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Karnes County 16 kmWilson County 26 kmDeWitt County 49 kmGonzales County 58 kmGuadalupe County 60 kmGoliad County 60 kmAtascosa County 68 kmBee County 72 kmBexar County 78 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
4:47 am CDT on 10 September 2023 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Karnes City, TX · earthquakes near Karnes City
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Karnes County, 16 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 378 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Karnes City, 19 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Poth, Stockdale, Runge, Kenedy, Nixon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.0 on 2018-05-01 — about 5,600 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 29.0510, -97.8620. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Karnes County, TX 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Karnes County
Wilson County, TX 26 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Wilson County
DeWitt County, TX 49 km (30 mi) E earthquakes near DeWitt County
Gonzales County, TX 58 km (36 mi) NE earthquakes near Gonzales County
Guadalupe County, TX 60 km (37 mi) N earthquakes near Guadalupe County
Goliad County, TX 60 km (38 mi) SE earthquakes near Goliad County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
  2. 1.9 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
  3. 3.9 3 km N of Nordheim, Texas
  4. 1.9 8 km SW of Falls City, Texas
  5. 1.8 8 km SSW of Falls City, Texas
  6. 3.4 8 km SSW of Falls City, Texas
  7. 2.1 8 km SSW of Falls City, Texas
  8. 1.5 4 km N of Nordheim, Texas
  9. 2.2 4 km N of Nordheim, Texas
  10. 1.8 3 km N of Nordheim, Texas
  11. 2.2 2 km SE of Falls City, Texas
  12. 1.5 16 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  13. 1.6 2 km SE of Falls City, Texas
  14. 1.5 16 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  15. 1.6 19 km SW of Falls City, 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.