QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Karnes City, TX

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Karnes City in the last 24 hours. M 3.2, 101 km (63 mi) W of Karnes City, at 3:20 am CST on 12 November 2026 (09:20 UTC); the estimated shaking in Karnes City was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Karnes City

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Karnes City, TX, at 4:28 am CST on 30 January 2025 (10:28 UTC), 8.2 km deep.

USGS: 17 km ENE of Falls City, Texas

79 km (49 mi) SE of San Antonio, TX

4:28 am CST, Jan 30, 2025 · · 8.2 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Karnes County 16 kmWilson County 26 kmDeWitt County 48 kmGonzales County 57 kmGuadalupe County 59 kmGoliad County 60 kmAtascosa County 69 kmBee County 72 kmBexar County 78 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
4:28 am CST on 30 January 2025 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Karnes City, TX · earthquakes near Karnes City
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
8.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Karnes County, 16 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 498 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Karnes City, 19 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: Poth, Stockdale, Runge, Nixon, Kenedy.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 2025-01-30 — about 22,000 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 29.0540, -97.8550. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Karnes County, TX 16 km (10 mi) S earthquakes near Karnes County
Wilson County, TX 26 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Wilson County
DeWitt County, TX 48 km (30 mi) E earthquakes near DeWitt County
Gonzales County, TX 57 km (36 mi) NE earthquakes near Gonzales County
Guadalupe County, TX 59 km (37 mi) N earthquakes near Guadalupe County
Goliad County, TX 60 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Goliad 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. 1.5 21 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  2. 1.8 20 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  3. 1.5 19 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  4. 1.8 19 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  5. 1.5 20 km SW of Falls City, Texas
  6. 3.0 19 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  7. 1.5 20 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  8. 1.8 21 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  9. 1.7 22 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  10. 3.1 19 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  11. 1.9 19 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  12. 1.6 19 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  13. 1.9 20 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  14. 2.1 19 km WSW of Falls City, Texas
  15. 1.6 19 km WSW of Falls City, 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.