QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Karnes City, TX

No earthquake was likely felt in Karnes City in the 24 hours to 1:21 am CST (07:21 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 37 km (23 mi) W, at 1:55 am CDT on 20 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Karnes City

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) west-northwest of Karnes City, TX, at 1:51 am CDT on 10 October 2023 (06:51 UTC), 6.3 km deep.

USGS: 8 km SSW of Falls City, Texas

76 km (47 mi) SE of San Antonio, TX

1:51 am CDT, Oct 10, 2023 · · 6.3 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Karnes County 20 kmWilson County 29 kmAtascosa County 46 kmLive Oak County 63 kmBee County 64 kmGoliad County 68 kmDeWitt County 71 kmBexar County 74 kmGuadalupe County 75 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
1:51 am CDT on 10 October 2023 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) west-northwest 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
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Karnes County, 20 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 366 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, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Poth, Kenedy, Floresville.

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 4.1 on 2023-09-14 — about 7,900 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 28.9160, -98.0620. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Karnes County, TX 20 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Karnes County
Wilson County, TX 29 km (18 mi) N earthquakes near Wilson County
Atascosa County, TX 46 km (29 mi) W earthquakes near Atascosa County
Live Oak County, TX 63 km (39 mi) S earthquakes near Live Oak County
Bee County, TX 64 km (40 mi) SSE earthquakes near Bee County
Goliad County, TX 68 km (42 mi) ESE earthquakes near Goliad County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 18 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  2. 1.9 14 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
  3. 1.8 13 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
  4. 2.1 15 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  5. 1.5 18 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  6. 1.6 18 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  7. 1.5 7 km SW of Falls City, Texas
  8. 2.2 7 km SSW of Falls City, Texas
  9. 2.2 6 km SW of Falls City, Texas
  10. 1.6 7 km SSW of Falls City, Texas
  11. 2.3 7 km SSW of Falls City, Texas
  12. 3.7 8 km SW of Falls City, Texas
  13. 1.9 14 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
  14. 1.7 2 km SE of Falls City, Texas
  15. 1.7 2 km SE 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.