QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

38 km NNW of Toyah, Texas

· 7.9 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Reeves County 44 kmLoving County 48 kmCulberson County 54 kmWard County 85 kmWinkler County 92 kmEddy County 98 kmJeff Davis County 112 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 1.7 (ml)
Depth
7.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Reeves County, 44 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 38 km NNW of Toyah, Texas at 04:05 UTC on 2026-10-01. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. 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 5.4 on 2022-11-16 — 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 31.6170, -103.9980. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Reeves County, TX 44 km (27 mi) SE earthquakes near Reeves County
Loving County, TX 48 km (30 mi) ENE earthquakes near Loving County
Culberson County, TX 54 km (33 mi) WSW earthquakes near Culberson County
Ward County, TX 85 km (53 mi) E earthquakes near Ward County
Winkler County, TX 92 km (57 mi) ENE earthquakes near Winkler County
Eddy County, NM 98 km (61 mi) NNW earthquakes near Eddy County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 57 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  2. 1.7 57 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  3. 1.5 58 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  4. 1.7 58 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  5. 1.6 57 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  6. 2.7 53 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  7. 1.7 62 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  8. 1.6 45 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  9. 1.5 58 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  10. 1.6 55 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  11. 1.9 60 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  12. 1.6 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  13. 2.0 54 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  14. 1.6 34 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  15. 2.0 57 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.