QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

western Texas

Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in western Texas, 42 km (26 mi) NE of Midland, TX, at 7:54 pm CST on 30 November 2023 (01:54 UTC), 5.7 km deep.

42 km (26 mi) NE of Midland, TX

· 5.7 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Martin County 15 kmHoward County 34 kmDawson County 52 kmGlasscock County 54 kmMidland County 57 kmBorden County 60 kmAndrews County 79 kmMitchell County 82 kmEctor County 85 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 2.5 (ml)
Depth
5.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Martin County, 15 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1009 days ago

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 46 km (29 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.

Likely felt in: Stanton 18 km, intensity III · Big Spring 31 km, intensity II · Midland 42 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 11,000 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 32.2950, -101.8000. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Martin County, TX 15 km (10 mi) W earthquakes near Martin County
Howard County, TX 34 km (21 mi) E earthquakes near Howard County
Dawson County, TX 52 km (32 mi) NNW earthquakes near Dawson County
Glasscock County, TX 54 km (34 mi) SSE earthquakes near Glasscock County
Midland County, TX 57 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Midland County
Borden County, TX 60 km (37 mi) NE earthquakes near Borden County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  2. 3.4 33 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  3. 1.5 19 km NNW of Stanton, Texas
  4. 3.3 33 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  5. 2.1 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  6. 1.7 13 km SSW of Ackerly, Texas
  7. 2.3 19 km NW of Stanton, Texas
  8. 2.5 32 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  9. 1.7 13 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  10. 1.5 30 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  11. 2.2 21 km W of Garden City, Texas
  12. 1.5 23 km NNE of Gardendale, Texas
  13. 1.9 18 km ESE of Ackerly, Texas
  14. 2.2 31 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  15. 1.7 16 km SSE of Ackerly, 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.