QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7ml

Earthquake near Alpine, TX

USGS: 26 km SSE of Balmorhea, Texas

9:37 pm CDT, Apr 8, 2018 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 340 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Alpine Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Jeff Davis County 52 kmReeves County 61 kmPecos County 91 kmWard County 100 kmPresidio County 101 kmCulberson County 112 kmBrewster County 113 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
9:37 pm CDT on 8 April 2018 ()
Where
44 km (28 mi) N of Alpine, TX · earthquakes near Alpine
Magnitude
M 2.7 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Jeff Davis County, 52 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3010 days ago

A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 44 km (28 mi) N of Alpine, TX, at 9:37 pm CDT on 8 April 2018 (02:37 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Fort Davis.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 340 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 340 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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 The 1931 Valentine, Texas Earthquake · 49 km W of this epicentre

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 30.7584, -103.6691. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Jeff Davis County, TX 52 km (32 mi) WSW earthquakes near Jeff Davis County
Reeves County, TX 61 km (38 mi) N earthquakes near Reeves County
Pecos County, TX 91 km (56 mi) E earthquakes near Pecos County
Ward County, TX 100 km (62 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ward County
Presidio County, TX 101 km (63 mi) SW earthquakes near Presidio County
Culberson County, TX 112 km (70 mi) NW earthquakes near Culberson County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 34 km WNW of Fort Stockton, Texas
  2. 2.6 19 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  3. 3.0 11 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  4. 1.5 14 km SSE of Toyah, Texas
  5. 2.8 31 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  6. 2.9 21 km SSW of Lindsay, Texas
  7. 1.6 22 km S of Lindsay, Texas
  8. 1.5 32 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  9. 2.5 25 km SSE of Lindsay, Texas
  10. 2.6 24 km SSE of Lindsay, Texas
  11. 2.6 14 km N of Balmorhea, Texas
  12. 2.5 29 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  13. 3.1 31 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
  14. 3.1 26 km E of Balmorhea, Texas
  15. 2.7 23 km E of Balmorhea, 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.