QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml(texnet)

western Texas

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded in western Texas, at 10:33 am CDT on 23 October 2023 (15:33 UTC), 6.2 km deep.

· 6.2 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culberson County 16 kmReeves County 83 kmHudspeth County 83 kmLoving County 95 kmEddy County 99 kmJeff Davis County 111 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(texnet))
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culberson County, 16 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1114 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 20 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 5.4 on 2022-11-16 — about 180,000 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 31.5870, -104.5200. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culberson County, TX 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Culberson County
Reeves County, TX 83 km (51 mi) ESE earthquakes near Reeves County
Hudspeth County, TX 83 km (51 mi) W earthquakes near Hudspeth County
Loving County, TX 95 km (59 mi) ENE earthquakes near Loving County
Eddy County, NM 99 km (61 mi) NNE earthquakes near Eddy County
Jeff Davis County, TX 111 km (69 mi) SSE earthquakes near Jeff Davis County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  2. 1.6 55 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  3. 2.0 55 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  4. 1.8 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  5. 1.7 54 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  6. 1.6 51 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  7. 1.6 western Texas
  8. 2.3 53 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  9. 1.9 57 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  10. 2.9 58 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  11. 1.5 51 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  12. 1.8 western Texas
  13. 1.7 51 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  14. 1.9 50 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  15. 1.9 western 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.