QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

55 km NW of Toyah, Texas

· 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 31 kmReeves County 63 kmLoving County 72 kmEddy County 94 kmHudspeth County 107 kmJeff Davis County 110 kmWard County 111 kmWinkler County 117 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
7.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culberson County, 31 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 34 hours ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 55 km NW of Toyah, Texas at 15:17 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 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 31.6130, -104.2670. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culberson County, TX 31 km (19 mi) SW earthquakes near Culberson County
Reeves County, TX 63 km (39 mi) ESE earthquakes near Reeves County
Loving County, TX 72 km (44 mi) ENE earthquakes near Loving County
Eddy County, NM 94 km (58 mi) N earthquakes near Eddy County
Hudspeth County, TX 107 km (66 mi) W earthquakes near Hudspeth County
Jeff Davis County, TX 110 km (68 mi) S earthquakes near Jeff Davis County

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

Aftershocks so far

12 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. 2.4 54 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico
  11. 1.9 55 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico
  12. 3.1 55 km SSW 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.