QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

western Texas

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded in western Texas, 47 km (29 mi) N of Midland, TX, at 7:05 am CDT on 17 September 2023 (12:05 UTC), 9.2 km deep.

47 km (29 mi) N of Midland, TX

· 9.2 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Martin County 21 kmDawson County 37 kmAndrews County 51 kmGaines County 58 kmHoward County 66 kmMidland County 71 kmBorden County 72 kmEctor County 76 kmTerry County 83 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
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
9.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Martin County, 21 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1150 days ago

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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. 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 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 5.2 on 2022-12-16 — about 89,000 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 32.4435, -102.1214. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Martin County, TX 21 km (13 mi) SE earthquakes near Martin County
Dawson County, TX 37 km (23 mi) NNE earthquakes near Dawson County
Andrews County, TX 51 km (32 mi) WSW earthquakes near Andrews County
Gaines County, TX 58 km (36 mi) NW earthquakes near Gaines County
Howard County, TX 66 km (41 mi) ESE earthquakes near Howard County
Midland County, TX 71 km (44 mi) S earthquakes near Midland 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. 1.6 11 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  2. 2.6 western Texas
  3. 2.1 28 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas
  4. 1.5 15 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  5. 1.5 16 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  6. 2.3 western Texas
  7. 2.0 western Texas
  8. 1.8 38 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  9. 1.8 31 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  10. 2.2 31 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  11. 2.1 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  12. 4.2 31 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  13. 2.0 39 km ENE of McKinney Acres, Texas
  14. 2.1 22 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
  15. 1.8 18 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.