QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

18 km SE of Balmorhea, Texas

· 5.1 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Reeves County 49 kmJeff Davis County 64 kmWard County 84 kmPecos County 84 kmLoving County 107 kmCulberson County 109 kmPresidio County 117 kmWinkler County 117 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
5.1 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 552 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 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 30.8830, -103.5930. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Reeves County, TX 49 km (30 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Reeves County
Jeff Davis County, TX 64 km (40 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Jeff Davis County
Ward County, TX 84 km (52 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Ward County
Pecos County, TX 84 km (52 mi) W of here earthquakes near Pecos County
Loving County, TX 107 km (66 mi) S of here earthquakes near Loving County
Culberson County, TX 109 km (68 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Culberson County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 31 km W of Fort Stockton, Texas
  2. 1.8 7 km NNE of Balmorhea, Texas
  3. 1.7 36 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  4. 2.2 17 km ESE of Lindsay, Texas
  5. 1.5 8 km NNE of Balmorhea, Texas
  6. 2.8 7 km NNE of Balmorhea, Texas
  7. 1.5 21 km SSE of Lindsay, Texas
  8. 1.7 15 km SE of Lindsay, Texas
  9. 2.2 7 km NE of Balmorhea, Texas
  10. 1.8 8 km NNE of Balmorhea, Texas
  11. 2.6 7 km NNE of Balmorhea, Texas
  12. 2.6 6 km NNE of Balmorhea, Texas
  13. 1.7 5 km NE of Balmorhea, Texas
  14. 1.6 14 km ENE of Balmorhea, Texas
  15. 2.3 7 km NNE of Balmorhea, 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

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