QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near Stanton, TX

Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) northwest of Stanton, TX, at 2:45 pm CDT on 20 October 2026 (19:45 UTC), 8.8 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet.

USGS: 20 km NW of Stanton, Texas

32 km (20 mi) NNE of Midland, TX

2:45 pm CDT, Oct 20, 2026 · · 8.8 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Martin County 5 kmHoward County 47 kmMidland County 51 kmDawson County 52 kmGlasscock County 59 kmAndrews County 67 kmBorden County 70 kmEctor County 73 kmGaines County 84 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
2:45 pm CDT on 20 October 2026 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) northwest of Stanton, TX · earthquakes near Stanton
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
8.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Martin County, 5 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 49 minutes ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 45 km (28 mi) from the epicentre. In Stanton, 21 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.

Likely felt in: Stanton 21 km, intensity II · Midland 33 km, intensity II · Big Spring 43 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 11,000 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 32.2710, -101.9330. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Martin County, TX 5 km (3 mi) NNW earthquakes near Martin County
Howard County, TX 47 km (29 mi) E earthquakes near Howard County
Midland County, TX 51 km (32 mi) S earthquakes near Midland County
Dawson County, TX 52 km (33 mi) N earthquakes near Dawson County
Glasscock County, TX 59 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Glasscock County
Andrews County, TX 67 km (41 mi) W earthquakes near Andrews County

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

Aftershocks so far

No further 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

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