QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

53 km W of Mentone, Texas

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 53 km W of Mentone, Texas, at 1:52 pm MDT on 16 August 2026 (19:52 UTC), 7.1 km deep.

· 7.1 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culberson County 45 kmLoving County 59 kmReeves County 61 kmEddy County 85 kmWard County 102 kmWinkler County 106 kmHudspeth County 118 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
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
7.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culberson County, 45 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 86 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

  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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.4 on 2022-11-16 — about 500,000 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 31.7050, -104.1630. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culberson County, TX 45 km (28 mi) SW earthquakes near Culberson County
Loving County, TX 59 km (37 mi) ENE earthquakes near Loving County
Reeves County, TX 61 km (38 mi) SE earthquakes near Reeves County
Eddy County, NM 85 km (53 mi) N earthquakes near Eddy County
Ward County, TX 102 km (64 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ward County
Winkler County, TX 106 km (66 mi) E earthquakes near Winkler 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. 1.8 53 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  2. 1.5 61 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  3. 2.4 53 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  4. 1.8 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  5. 1.5 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  6. 1.5 53 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  7. 1.7 58 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  8. 1.5 56 km SSE of Whites City, New Mexico
  9. 1.5 52 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico
  10. 3.1 50 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico
  11. 1.6 36 km WSW of Mentone, Texas
  12. 1.8 43 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  13. 1.7 62 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico
  14. 1.5 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  15. 2.0 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico

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.