Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Big Spring, TX
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Spring in the 24 hours to 12:10 pm CST (18:10 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 41 km (26 mi) ESE, at 5:05 pm CST on 11 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Spring
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) south-southwest of Big Spring, TX, at 5:45 pm CDT on 18 October 2024 (22:45 UTC), 8.1 km deep.
USGS: 13 km NNW of Garden City, Texas
54 km (33 mi) E of Midland, TX
- When
- 5:45 pm CDT on 18 October 2024 ()
- Where
- 32 km (20 mi) south-southwest of Big Spring, TX · earthquakes near Big Spring
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Glasscock County, 12 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 753 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Spring, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Spring, 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Spring, 32 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- 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 4.6 on 2021-12-28 — about 16,000 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 31.9710, -101.5470. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasscock County, TX | 12 km (7 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Glasscock County |
| Howard County, TX | 38 km (24 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Howard County |
| Midland County, TX | 46 km (29 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Midland County |
| Sterling County, TX | 49 km (30 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Sterling County |
| Martin County, TX | 54 km (34 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Martin County |
| Reagan County, TX | 66 km (41 mi) | S | earthquakes near Reagan County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
41 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 26 km SSW of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.6 5 km SSE of Midland, Texas
- 1.5 5 km SSE of Midland, Texas
- 1.6 24 km E of Forsan, Texas
- 1.5 12 km S of Forsan, Texas
- 2.6 20 km NNW of Stanton, Texas
- 2.0 7 km SE of Midland, Texas
- 1.5 23 km S of Westbrook, Texas
- 2.0 25 km E of Forsan, Texas
- 1.8 24 km E of Forsan, Texas
- 2.7 16 km NW of Stanton, Texas
- 2.6 23 km S of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.6 7 km WNW of Sand Springs, Texas
- 2.4 24 km S of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.9 20 km NNW of Stanton, 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.