QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.2ml

Earthquake near Big Spring, TX

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Spring in the 24 hours to 1:31 pm CST (19:31 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 40 km (25 mi) ENE, at 6:28 pm CST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Spring

This page: a magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) south of Big Spring, TX, at 11:32 pm CDT on 14 October 2026 (04:32 UTC), 8.3 km deep.

USGS: 11 km W of Forsan, Texas

60 km (37 mi) E of Midland, TX

11:32 pm CDT, Oct 14, 2026 · · 8.3 km deep · released about 1.9 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Howard County 23 kmGlasscock County 26 kmSterling County 50 kmMartin County 50 kmMitchell County 58 kmMidland County 58 kmBorden County 71 kmReagan County 81 kmDawson County 83 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
11:32 pm CDT on 14 October 2026 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) south of Big Spring, TX · earthquakes near Big Spring
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.2 (ml)
Depth
8.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Howard County, 23 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 27 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Stanton.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 500× the energy of this one
  4. 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 4.6 on 2021-12-28 — about 130,000 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 32.1010, -101.4870. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Howard County, TX 23 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Howard County
Glasscock County, TX 26 km (16 mi) S earthquakes near Glasscock County
Sterling County, TX 50 km (31 mi) SE earthquakes near Sterling County
Martin County, TX 50 km (31 mi) WNW earthquakes near Martin County
Mitchell County, TX 58 km (36 mi) ENE earthquakes near Mitchell County
Midland County, TX 58 km (36 mi) WSW earthquakes near Midland County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.6 8 km E of Midland, Texas
  2. 1.6 22 km E of Forsan, Texas
  3. 0.6 11 km W of Forsan, Texas
  4. 1.2 10 km W of Forsan, Texas
  5. 2.9 5 km WSW of Westbrook, Texas
  6. 1.8 5 km WSW of Westbrook, Texas
  7. 2.1 17 km SSE of Ackerly, Texas
  8. 1.7 24 km W of Garden City, Texas
  9. 2.5 24 km W of Garden City, Texas
  10. 2.3 11 km WSW of Stanton, Texas
  11. 1.6 19 km NW of Sterling City, Texas
  12. 1.5 11 km WSW of Stanton, Texas
  13. 1.6 11 km WSW of Stanton, Texas
  14. 2.7 10 km WSW of Stanton, Texas
  15. 2.1 11 km WSW 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.