Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9mb_lg
Earthquake near Yorktown, TX
No earthquake was likely felt in Yorktown in the 24 hours to 3:25 pm CST (21:25 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 77 km (48 mi) W, at 1:55 am CDT on 20 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yorktown
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) north-northwest of Yorktown, TX, at 10:00 am CDT on 16 August 2018 (15:00 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 14 km NNW of Yorktown, Texas
- When
- 10:00 am CDT on 16 August 2018 ()
- Where
- 14 km (9 mi) north-northwest of Yorktown, TX · earthquakes near Yorktown
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (mb_lg)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- DeWitt County, 21 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 499 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Yorktown, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Yorktown, TX. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 67 km (42 mi) from the epicentre. In Yorktown, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Yorktown 14 km, intensity III · Nixon 27 km, intensity III · Cuero 28 km, intensity III · Karnes City 40 km, intensity II · Stockdale 41 km, intensity II · Gonzales 47 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 4.0 on 2018-05-01 — about 45 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 29.0952, -97.5732. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeWitt County, TX | 21 km (13 mi) | E | earthquakes near DeWitt County |
| Karnes County, TX | 34 km (21 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Karnes County |
| Gonzales County, TX | 42 km (26 mi) | N | earthquakes near Gonzales County |
| Goliad County, TX | 50 km (31 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Goliad County |
| Wilson County, TX | 51 km (31 mi) | W | earthquakes near Wilson County |
| Guadalupe County, TX | 65 km (41 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Guadalupe County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 13 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.6 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.5 9 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.8 13 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.9 9 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.9 9 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.5 9 km NW of Nordheim, Texas
- 1.5 11 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 2.0 10 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.5 10 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.6 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.6 9 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.9 10 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.5 12 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 2.3 10 km ENE of Falls City, 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
- 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.