Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml(texnet)
Earthquake near Midland, TX
No earthquake was likely felt in Midland in the 24 hours to 10:57 am CST (16:57 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 35 km (22 mi) ESE, at 4:17 am CST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Midland
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east-southeast of Midland, TX, at 10:07 am CST on 21 November 2023 (16:07 UTC), 5.8 km deep.
USGS: 9 km ESE of Midland, Texas
13 km (8 mi) ESE of Midland, TX
- When
- 10:07 am CST on 21 November 2023 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) east-southeast of Midland, TX · earthquakes near Midland
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml(texnet))
- Depth
- 5.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Midland County, 18 km S
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1086 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Midland, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Midland, 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 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Midland, 9 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: Stanton.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 250,000 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 31.9770, -101.9820. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midland County, TX | 18 km (11 mi) | S | earthquakes near Midland County |
| Martin County, TX | 37 km (23 mi) | N | earthquakes near Martin County |
| Glasscock County, TX | 45 km (28 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Glasscock County |
| Ector County, TX | 54 km (34 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Ector County |
| Howard County, TX | 63 km (39 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Howard County |
| Upton County, TX | 70 km (43 mi) | S | earthquakes near Upton County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 30 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
- 2.2 21 km W of Garden City, Texas
- 1.5 23 km NNE of Gardendale, Texas
- 2.2 31 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
- 2.0 11 km W of Forsan, Texas
- 1.6 13 km NNW of Midland, Texas
- 1.9 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
- 1.7 25 km W of Garden City, Texas
- 1.8 24 km W of Garden City, Texas
- 1.7 23 km NNW of Stanton, Texas
- 1.5 31 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
- 1.8 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
- 1.7 22 km NNW of Midland, Texas
- 2.6 21 km N of Stanton, Texas
- 1.7 31 km NE of Crane, 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.