Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.9ml
Earthquake near Yorktown, TX
No earthquake was likely felt in Yorktown in the 24 hours to 2:09 am CST (08:09 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 77 km (48 mi) W, at 1:55 am CDT on 20 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yorktown
This page: a magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) west-southwest of Yorktown, TX, at 8:59 am CDT on 9 October 2023 (13:59 UTC), 4.5 km deep. 28 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3 km N of Nordheim, Texas
- When
- 8:59 am CDT on 9 October 2023 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) west-southwest of Yorktown, TX · earthquakes near Yorktown
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 28 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Nearest
- Karnes County, 24 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 498 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Yorktown, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Yorktown, 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 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 431 km (268 mi) from the epicentre. In Yorktown, 11 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Yorktown 11 km, intensity IV · Karnes City 29 km, intensity IV · Cuero 35 km, intensity IV · Nixon 38 km, intensity III · Stockdale 46 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.9 about 11 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 22× 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 4.1 on 2023-09-14 — about 2 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 28.9530, -97.6110. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnes County, TX | 24 km (15 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Karnes County |
| DeWitt County, TX | 28 km (18 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near DeWitt County |
| Goliad County, TX | 37 km (23 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Goliad County |
| Wilson County, TX | 52 km (33 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Wilson County |
| Gonzales County, TX | 58 km (36 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Gonzales County |
| Bee County, TX | 61 km (38 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Bee County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 18 km SSW of Nixon, Texas
- 1.5 17 km S of Gonzales, Texas
- 1.6 1 km ESE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.6 7 km SSW of Falls City, Texas
- 2.0 11 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.6 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.8 11 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.6 10 km S of Smiley, Texas
- 1.9 14 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.9 14 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.8 13 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.5 7 km SW of Falls City, Texas
- 2.2 7 km SSW of Falls City, Texas
- 2.2 6 km SW of Falls City, Texas
- 1.6 7 km SSW 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
- 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.