Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Big Spring, TX
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Big Spring in the last 24 hours. M 2.5, 41 km (26 mi) ESE of Big Spring, at 5:05 pm CST on 11 November 2026 (23:05 UTC); the estimated shaking in Big Spring was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Big Spring
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) east-southeast of Big Spring, TX, at 1:41 pm CST on 27 December 2025 (19:41 UTC), 7.3 km deep.
USGS: 24 km SSW of Westbrook, Texas
99 km (62 mi) E of Midland, TX
- When
- 1:41 pm CST on 27 December 2025 ()
- Where
- 41 km (25 mi) east-southeast of Big Spring, TX · earthquakes near Big Spring
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mitchell County, 23 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 316 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Spring, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Spring, TX. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Spring, 41 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2025-10-12 — about 11,000 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 32.1380, -101.0670. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell County, TX | 23 km (14 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Mitchell County |
| Sterling County, TX | 34 km (21 mi) | S | earthquakes near Sterling County |
| Howard County, TX | 40 km (25 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Howard County |
| Coke County, TX | 50 km (31 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Coke County |
| Glasscock County, TX | 52 km (33 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Glasscock County |
| Nolan County, TX | 64 km (40 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Nolan County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 26 km S of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.7 25 km S of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.6 22 km SW of Snyder, Texas
- 1.5 24 km NNW of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.9 22 km SW of Snyder, Texas
- 1.6 24 km NNW of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.5 23 km SW of Snyder, Texas
- 4.3 23 km SW of Snyder, Texas
- 1.9 9 km NNE of Garden City, Texas
- 1.8 10 km S of Forsan, Texas
- 1.5 26 km S of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.6 13 km S of Forsan, Texas
- 1.5 24 km SSW of Westbrook, Texas
- 1.5 11 km W of Forsan, Texas
- 1.7 12 km SW of Westbrook, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.