Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Midland, TX
USGS: 25 km W of Garden City, Texas
38 km (23 mi) ESE of Midland, TX
- When
- 11:43 am CDT on 28 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 33 km (21 mi) ESE of Midland, TX · earthquakes near Midland
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Glasscock County, 22 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 4 days ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 33 km (21 mi) ESE of Midland, TX, at 11:43 am CDT on 28 September 2026 (16:43 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Stanton.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 5.2 on 2022-12-16 — about 350,000 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 31.8920, -101.7480. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasscock County, TX | 22 km (13 mi) | E | earthquakes near Glasscock County |
| Midland County, TX | 26 km (16 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Midland County |
| Martin County, TX | 51 km (31 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Martin County |
| Howard County, TX | 54 km (34 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Howard County |
| Reagan County, TX | 62 km (38 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Reagan County |
| Sterling County, TX | 66 km (41 mi) | E | earthquakes near Sterling County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
6 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.1 32 km NE of Crane, Texas
- 3.1 20 km WNW of Stanton, Texas
- 0.6 19 km NW of Stanton, Texas
- 1.0 20 km NNE of Stanton, Texas
- 1.7 20 km NNE of Stanton, Texas
- 1.7 17 km N of Stanton, 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.