QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.3mb_lg

Earthquake near Pecos, TX

USGS: 25 km W of Coyanosa, Texas

1:53 am CST, Feb 20, 2016 · · 3.2 km deep · released about 1.3 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Pecos Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Reeves County 38 kmWard County 38 kmWinkler County 72 kmLoving County 72 kmPecos County 77 kmCrane County 83 kmEctor County 103 kmJeff Davis County 106 kmCulberson County 116 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
1:53 am CST on 20 February 2016 ()
Where
27 km (17 mi) SE of Pecos, TX · earthquakes near Pecos
Magnitude
M 3.3 (mb_lg)
Depth
3.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Reeves County, 38 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3804 days ago

A magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) SE of Pecos, TX, at 1:53 am CST on 20 February 2016 (07:53 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.8× more

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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

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 31.2258, -103.3279. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Reeves County, TX 38 km (23 mi) WNW earthquakes near Reeves County
Ward County, TX 38 km (24 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ward County
Winkler County, TX 72 km (45 mi) NNE earthquakes near Winkler County
Loving County, TX 72 km (45 mi) NNW earthquakes near Loving County
Pecos County, TX 77 km (48 mi) SE earthquakes near Pecos County
Crane County, TX 83 km (51 mi) ENE earthquakes near Crane County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 24 km WSW of Coyanosa, Texas
  2. 2.9 29 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  3. 2.7 28 km SSE of Lindsay, Texas
  4. 3.0 22 km WSW of Coyanosa, Texas
  5. 2.2 24 km WSW of Coyanosa, Texas
  6. 1.6 21 km S of Lindsay, Texas
  7. 3.1 16 km SSW of Lindsay, Texas
  8. 2.7 26 km WSW of Coyanosa, Texas
  9. 2.5 19 km WSW of Coyanosa, Texas
  10. 3.0 35 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  11. 3.3 23 km WSW of Coyanosa, Texas
  12. 2.0 15 km S of Lindsay, Texas
  13. 2.6 24 km ENE of Balmorhea, Texas
  14. 3.0 24 km WSW of Coyanosa, Texas
  15. 1.8 25 km WSW of Coyanosa, 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.