QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

21 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas

· 7.8 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Reeves County 49 kmJeff Davis County 68 kmPecos County 80 kmWard County 81 kmLoving County 106 kmCulberson County 112 kmWinkler County 115 kmCrane County 117 kmPresidio County 120 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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
7.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Reeves County, 49 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 866 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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.

Where

Epicentre 30.8890, -103.5490. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Reeves County, TX 49 km (31 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Reeves County
Jeff Davis County, TX 68 km (42 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Jeff Davis County
Pecos County, TX 80 km (50 mi) W of here earthquakes near Pecos County
Ward County, TX 81 km (50 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Ward County
Loving County, TX 106 km (66 mi) S of here earthquakes near Loving County
Culberson County, TX 112 km (69 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Culberson 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 24 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  2. 2.2 22 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  3. 1.5 9 km SSW of Lindsay, Texas
  4. 1.5 10 km SSW of Lindsay, Texas
  5. 1.6 9 km S of Toyah, Texas
  6. 1.7 10 km NNE of Balmorhea, Texas
  7. 1.5 34 km SSE of Lindsay, Texas
  8. 2.5 24 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  9. 1.8 13 km SE of Lindsay, Texas
  10. 1.5 28 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  11. 1.7 32 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  12. 1.8 20 km SE of Lindsay, Texas
  13. 1.5 10 km SSE of Toyah, Texas
  14. 2.2 16 km SSE of Toyah, Texas
  15. 2.1 16 km SSE of Toyah, 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.