QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml(texnet)

Earthquake near Rotan, TX

No earthquake was likely felt in Rotan in the 24 hours to 11:20 pm CST (05:20 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 2.3 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Rotan, TX, at 1:49 pm CDT on 4 October 2023 (18:49 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

USGS: 16 km SW of Rotan, Texas

1:49 pm CDT, Oct 4, 2023 · · 6.9 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fisher County 19 kmScurry County 29 kmKent County 49 kmNolan County 54 kmStonewall County 56 kmMitchell County 60 kmJones County 68 kmBorden County 78 kmGarza County 80 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
1:49 pm CDT on 4 October 2023 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) southwest of Rotan, TX · earthquakes near Rotan
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml(texnet))
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Fisher County, 19 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1134 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 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Rotan, 16 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.

Likely felt in: Rotan 16 km, intensity II · Snyder 30 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 4,000 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 32.7670, -100.6050. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Fisher County, TX 19 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Fisher County
Scurry County, TX 29 km (18 mi) W earthquakes near Scurry County
Kent County, TX 49 km (30 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kent County
Nolan County, TX 54 km (33 mi) SSE earthquakes near Nolan County
Stonewall County, TX 56 km (35 mi) NE earthquakes near Stonewall County
Mitchell County, TX 60 km (37 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mitchell 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.

  1. 2.9 15 km NNW of Snyder, Texas
  2. 2.3 17 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  3. 1.7 17 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  4. 1.8 18 km WSW of Rotan, Texas
  5. 2.8 15 km NNW of Snyder, Texas
  6. 1.6 15 km NNW of Snyder, Texas
  7. 3.6 18 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  8. 1.7 17 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  9. 2.9 18 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  10. 2.7 17 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  11. 2.2 17 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  12. 1.6 17 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  13. 2.2 17 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  14. 2.4 17 km NE of Hermleigh, Texas
  15. 2.8 16 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.