QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0mb_lg

Earthquake near Poth, TX

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Poth in the last 24 hours. M 3.2, 86 km (54 mi) WSW of Poth, at 3:20 am CST on 12 November 2026 (09:20 UTC); the estimated shaking in Poth was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Poth

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Poth, TX, at 1:41 am CST on 22 December 2018 (07:41 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 7 km NNE of Falls City, Texas

71 km (44 mi) SE of San Antonio, TX

1:41 am CST, Dec 22, 2018 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Wilson County 18 kmKarnes County 19 kmAtascosa County 56 kmDeWitt County 60 kmGuadalupe County 61 kmGonzales County 67 kmGoliad County 68 kmBexar County 70 kmBee County 73 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
1:41 am CST on 22 December 2018 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) east-southeast of Poth, TX · earthquakes near Poth
Texas today
every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.0 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Wilson County, 18 km NW
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 73 km (45 mi) from the epicentre. In Poth, 11 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 19 km, intensity III · Floresville 20 km, intensity III · Stockdale 22 km, intensity III · Nixon 33 km, intensity III · Yorktown 47 km, intensity II · Pleasanton 49 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 32 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 29.0370, -97.9797. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Wilson County, TX 18 km (11 mi) NW earthquakes near Wilson County
Karnes County, TX 19 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near Karnes County
Atascosa County, TX 56 km (35 mi) WSW earthquakes near Atascosa County
DeWitt County, TX 60 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near DeWitt County
Guadalupe County, TX 61 km (38 mi) N earthquakes near Guadalupe County
Gonzales County, TX 67 km (42 mi) NE earthquakes near Gonzales County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 16 km SSW of Smiley, Texas
  2. 2.0 16 km SSE of Nixon, Texas
  3. 1.5 16 km SSE of Nixon, Texas
  4. 1.9 17 km SSE of Nixon, Texas
  5. 1.5 13 km W of Pawnee, Texas
  6. 1.5 10 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
  7. 1.6 9 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
  8. 1.5 3 km ESE of Falls City, Texas
  9. 2.7 16 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
  10. 1.9 4 km ESE of Falls City, Texas
  11. 1.7 1 km NNW of Falls City, Texas
  12. 1.8 4 km SE of Falls City, Texas
  13. 1.9 2 km E of Falls City, Texas
  14. 1.8 4 km SE of Falls City, Texas
  15. 1.9 3 km ESE 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

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