QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Midland, TX

No earthquake was likely felt in Midland in the 24 hours to 1:18 am CST (07:18 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) east-southeast of Midland, TX, at 3:56 am CDT on 4 April 2024 (08:56 UTC), 8.8 km deep.

USGS: 24 km W of Garden City, Texas

38 km (23 mi) ESE of Midland, TX

3:56 am CDT, Apr 4, 2024 · · 8.8 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Glasscock County 21 kmMidland County 27 kmMartin County 50 kmHoward County 53 kmReagan County 62 kmSterling County 65 kmUpton County 67 kmEctor County 76 kmCrane County 89 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
3:56 am CDT on 4 April 2024 ()
Where
34 km (21 mi) east-southeast of Midland, TX · earthquakes near Midland
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
8.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Glasscock County, 21 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 950 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Midland, 34 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 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 130,000 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 31.9030, -101.7400. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Glasscock County, TX 21 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Glasscock County
Midland County, TX 27 km (17 mi) WSW earthquakes near Midland County
Martin County, TX 50 km (31 mi) NNW earthquakes near Martin County
Howard County, TX 53 km (33 mi) NNE earthquakes near Howard County
Reagan County, TX 62 km (39 mi) SSE earthquakes near Reagan County
Sterling County, TX 65 km (40 mi) E earthquakes near Sterling 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 13 km SSW of Big Spring, Texas
  2. 1.7 23 km W of Garden City, Texas
  3. 1.7 13 km ESE of Stanton, Texas
  4. 1.6 10 km W of Forsan, Texas
  5. 1.7 13 km ESE of Stanton, Texas
  6. 1.6 26 km W of Garden City, Texas
  7. 1.6 11 km W of Forsan, Texas
  8. 3.0 21 km N of Stanton, Texas
  9. 1.5 30 km SW of Garden City, Texas
  10. 1.6 18 km NW of Stanton, Texas
  11. 1.9 20 km N of Stanton, Texas
  12. 1.6 14 km ESE of Stanton, Texas
  13. 1.9 20 km N of Stanton, Texas
  14. 1.7 15 km NW of Midland, Texas
  15. 1.6 17 km NW of Midland, 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.