Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.2ml
Earthquake near Big Spring, TX
USGS: 6 km WNW of Westbrook, Texas
- When
- 11:48 am CDT on 1 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) ENE of Big Spring, TX · earthquakes near Big Spring
- Magnitude
- M 1.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mitchell County, 17 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 13 hours ago
A magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) ENE of Big Spring, TX, at 11:48 am CDT on 1 October 2026 (16:48 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Colorado City.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 500× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.2 about 1.9 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 4.3 on 2025-10-12 — about 45,000 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 32.3810, -101.0800. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell County, TX | 17 km (11 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Mitchell County |
| Howard County, TX | 35 km (22 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Howard County |
| Scurry County, TX | 43 km (27 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Scurry County |
| Borden County, TX | 52 km (32 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Borden County |
| Sterling County, TX | 61 km (38 mi) | S | earthquakes near Sterling County |
| Nolan County, TX | 63 km (39 mi) | E | earthquakes near Nolan County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
2 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.