QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Stanton, TX

No earthquake was likely felt in Stanton in the 24 hours to 3:37 am CST (09:37 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 28 km (17 mi) S, at 4:17 am CST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Stanton

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Stanton, TX, at 9:00 am CST on 8 December 2024 (15:00 UTC), 7.5 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 19 km NW of Stanton, Texas

29 km (18 mi) NNE of Midland, TX

9:00 am CST, Dec 8, 2024 · · 7.5 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Martin County 7 kmHoward County 48 kmMidland County 49 kmDawson County 55 kmGlasscock County 58 kmAndrews County 66 kmEctor County 71 kmBorden County 72 kmGaines 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
9:00 am CST on 8 December 2024 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) northwest of Stanton, TX · earthquakes near Stanton
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
7.5 km below the surface
Felt
6 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Martin County, 7 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 635 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 73 km (45 mi) from the epicentre. In Stanton, 20 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Stanton 20 km, intensity III · Midland 31 km, intensity III · Big Spring 44 km, intensity II · Gardendale 48 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 2,000 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 32.2480, -101.9460. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Martin County, TX 7 km (4 mi) NNW earthquakes near Martin County
Howard County, TX 48 km (30 mi) E earthquakes near Howard County
Midland County, TX 49 km (30 mi) S earthquakes near Midland County
Dawson County, TX 55 km (34 mi) N earthquakes near Dawson County
Glasscock County, TX 58 km (36 mi) SE earthquakes near Glasscock County
Andrews County, TX 66 km (41 mi) W earthquakes near Andrews County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 14 km SSE of Stanton, Texas
  2. 2.0 24 km NNW of Midland, Texas
  3. 1.6 33 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  4. 1.9 33 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  5. 2.6 33 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  6. 1.5 5 km SE of Midland, Texas
  7. 1.8 15 km SSE of Stanton, Texas
  8. 1.6 9 km ESE of Midland, Texas
  9. 1.7 39 km ENE of McKinney Acres, Texas
  10. 1.5 35 km WSW of Ackerly, Texas
  11. 2.2 10 km W of Forsan, Texas
  12. 1.6 15 km SSE of Stanton, Texas
  13. 1.6 15 km SSE of Stanton, Texas
  14. 1.5 20 km NNE of Stanton, Texas
  15. 1.5 30 km WSW 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.