QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8mb_lg

Earthquake near Karnes City, TX

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Karnes City in the last 24 hours. M 3.1, 101 km (63 mi) W of Karnes City, at 3:20 am CST on 12 November 2026 (09:20 UTC); the estimated shaking in Karnes City was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Karnes City

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) north of Karnes City, TX, at 10:00 pm CDT on 3 November 2018 (03:00 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 9 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 11 km E of Falls City, Texas

80 km (50 mi) SE of San Antonio, TX

10:00 pm CDT, Nov 3, 2018 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Karnes County 10 kmWilson County 27 kmDeWitt County 54 kmGoliad County 59 kmAtascosa County 62 kmBee County 66 kmGonzales County 66 kmGuadalupe County 66 kmLive Oak County 74 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
10:00 pm CDT on 3 November 2018 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) north of Karnes City, TX · earthquakes near Karnes City
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.8 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
9 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Karnes County, 10 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 498 days 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 62 km (39 mi) from the epicentre. In Karnes City, 12 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: Karnes City 12 km, intensity III · Stockdale 28 km, intensity III · Floresville 29 km, intensity III · Nixon 34 km, intensity II · Yorktown 39 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 63 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 28.9886, -97.9030. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Karnes County, TX 10 km (6 mi) SSE earthquakes near Karnes County
Wilson County, TX 27 km (17 mi) NW earthquakes near Wilson County
DeWitt County, TX 54 km (33 mi) ENE earthquakes near DeWitt County
Goliad County, TX 59 km (36 mi) SE earthquakes near Goliad County
Atascosa County, TX 62 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Atascosa County
Bee County, TX 66 km (41 mi) SSE earthquakes near Bee County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 23 km WNW of Pawnee, Texas
  2. 2.5 12 km S of Smiley, Texas
  3. 1.7 13 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  4. 2.3 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  5. 1.9 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  6. 1.8 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  7. 2.2 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  8. 2.6 18 km SSW of Smiley, Texas
  9. 1.7 13 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  10. 1.6 12 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  11. 1.5 9 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
  12. 1.8 13 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
  13. 1.9 9 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
  14. 1.9 9 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
  15. 2.1 16 km NNW of Pawnee, 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.