Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Nixon, TX
No earthquake was likely felt in Nixon in the 24 hours to 1:33 am CST (07:33 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 65 km (40 mi) SW, at 1:55 am CDT on 20 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Nixon
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) south-southeast of Nixon, TX, at 1:48 am CDT on 21 September 2026 (06:48 UTC), 8.8 km deep.
USGS: 16 km S of Smiley, Texas
91 km (57 mi) ESE of San Antonio, TX
- When
- 1:48 am CDT on 21 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) south-southeast of Nixon, TX · earthquakes near Nixon
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Karnes County, 30 km SW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 52 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Nixon, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Nixon, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Nixon, 19 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Yorktown, Runge.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 4.6 on 2025-01-30 — about 22,000 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 29.1220, -97.6670. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnes County, TX | 30 km (18 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Karnes County |
| DeWitt County, TX | 30 km (19 mi) | E | earthquakes near DeWitt County |
| Wilson County, TX | 41 km (26 mi) | W | earthquakes near Wilson County |
| Gonzales County, TX | 41 km (26 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Gonzales County |
| Goliad County, TX | 56 km (35 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Goliad County |
| Guadalupe County, TX | 58 km (36 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Guadalupe County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
11 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 0.9 19 km S of Nixon, Texas
- 2.8 19 km S of Nixon, Texas
- 2.2 18 km S of Nixon, Texas
- 1.2 19 km S of Nixon, Texas
- 1.6 19 km S of Nixon, Texas
- 1.6 17 km S of Nixon, Texas
- 1.6 17 km S of Nixon, Texas
- 2.7 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.1 9 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.7 16 km SSW of Smiley, Texas
- 1.3 17 km SSE of Nixon, 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.