QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9ml

12 km E of Balmorhea, Texas

· 3.1 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Reeves County 35 kmJeff Davis County 69 kmWard County 75 kmPecos County 89 kmLoving County 94 kmCulberson County 100 kmWinkler County 106 kmCrane 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 2.9 (ml)
Depth
3.1 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Reeves County, 35 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 207 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 31.0020, -103.6130. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Reeves County, TX 35 km (22 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Reeves County
Jeff Davis County, TX 69 km (43 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Jeff Davis County
Ward County, TX 75 km (46 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Ward County
Pecos County, TX 89 km (55 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Pecos County
Loving County, TX 94 km (58 mi) S of here earthquakes near Loving County
Culberson County, TX 100 km (62 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Culberson County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 26 km W of Fort Stockton, Texas
  2. 2.5 13 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  3. 1.8 14 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  4. 1.5 26 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
  5. 1.6 21 km SSE of Lindsay, Texas
  6. 1.5 35 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  7. 1.6 37 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  8. 2.0 17 km WSW of Coyanosa, Texas
  9. 1.6 5 km E of Toyah, Texas
  10. 1.7 11 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  11. 2.2 10 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  12. 1.6 30 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  13. 1.6 7 km ENE of Toyah, Texas
  14. 1.7 35 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  15. 1.5 33 km SSW of Coyanosa, 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.