QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

17 km ENE of Balmorhea, Texas

· 3.0 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Reeves County 34 kmWard County 69 kmJeff Davis County 75 kmPecos County 86 kmLoving County 90 kmWinkler County 101 kmCulberson County 102 kmCrane County 111 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 1.8 (ml)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Reeves County, 34 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 297 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 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. 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.

Where

Epicentre 31.0330, -103.5670. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Reeves County, TX 34 km (21 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Reeves County
Ward County, TX 69 km (43 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Ward County
Jeff Davis County, TX 75 km (47 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Jeff Davis County
Pecos County, TX 86 km (53 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Pecos County
Loving County, TX 90 km (56 mi) S of here earthquakes near Loving County
Winkler County, TX 101 km (63 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Winkler County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 6 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  2. 1.9 14 km N of Balmorhea, Texas
  3. 1.7 14 km N of Balmorhea, Texas
  4. 1.6 34 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  5. 1.9 2 km WNW of Pecos, Texas
  6. 1.8 14 km N of Balmorhea, Texas
  7. 1.9 10 km E of Toyah, Texas
  8. 1.8 28 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  9. 1.8 17 km SE of Lindsay, Texas
  10. 1.9 19 km SE of Lindsay, Texas
  11. 1.5 8 km WNW of Pecos, Texas
  12. 1.5 5 km NNW of Lindsay, Texas
  13. 1.6 14 km SE of Lindsay, Texas
  14. 2.2 10 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  15. 1.7 14 km E 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.