Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.4mb_lg
Earthquake near Nixon, TX
No earthquake was likely felt in Nixon in the 24 hours to 2:02 am CST (08:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 65 km (40 mi) SW, at 1:55 am CDT on 20 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Nixon
This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) east of Nixon, TX, at 12:16 pm CDT on 21 August 2020 (17:16 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 2 km SE of Smiley, Texas
91 km (57 mi) ESE of San Antonio, TX
- When
- 12:16 pm CDT on 21 August 2020 ()
- Where
- 14 km (9 mi) east of Nixon, TX · earthquakes near Nixon
- Texas today
- every earthquake in Texas in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.4 (mb_lg)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Gonzales County, 27 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 498 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Nixon, TX
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Nixon, 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 41 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Nixon, 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: Nixon 14 km, intensity III · Yorktown 31 km, intensity II · Gonzales 33 km, intensity II · Stockdale 33 km, intensity II · Cuero 36 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.9× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 250 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 29.2461, -97.6174. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gonzales County, TX | 27 km (17 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Gonzales County |
| DeWitt County, TX | 31 km (19 mi) | SE | earthquakes near DeWitt County |
| Karnes County, TX | 44 km (27 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Karnes County |
| Wilson County, TX | 46 km (29 mi) | W | earthquakes near Wilson County |
| Guadalupe County, TX | 49 km (31 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Guadalupe County |
| Caldwell County, TX | 65 km (41 mi) | N | earthquakes near Caldwell County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
22 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.8 10 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 2.2 10 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 2.1 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.8 10 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.8 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 2.5 17 km SSW of Smiley, Texas
- 2.0 16 km SSE of Nixon, Texas
- 1.9 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 2.3 10 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 2.2 19 km ENE of Falls City, Texas
- 1.9 17 km ENE of Smiley, Texas
- 3.2 8 km ESE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.9 9 km SSE of Smiley, Texas
- 1.6 14 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.