QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Alpine, TX

USGS: 15 km NW of Marathon, Texas

6:16 am CDT, May 10, 2020 · · 4.9 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Alpine Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Brewster County 55 kmPecos County 82 kmJeff Davis County 87 kmPresidio County 91 kmReeves County 118 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
6:16 am CDT on 10 May 2020 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) ESE of Alpine, TX · earthquakes near Alpine
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
4.9 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Brewster County, 55 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2256 days ago

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) ESE of Alpine, TX, at 6:16 am CDT on 10 May 2020 (11:16 UTC). 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× more

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. 5.7 13 km NW of Marathon, Texas · 2 km ESE 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 30.2890, -103.3692. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Brewster County, TX 55 km (34 mi) SSE earthquakes near Brewster County
Pecos County, TX 82 km (51 mi) NE earthquakes near Pecos County
Jeff Davis County, TX 87 km (54 mi) WNW earthquakes near Jeff Davis County
Presidio County, TX 91 km (57 mi) WSW earthquakes near Presidio County
Reeves County, TX 118 km (73 mi) NNW earthquakes near Reeves County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 18 km S of Marathon, Texas
  2. 1.8 24 km W of Marathon, Texas
  3. 2.9 19 km S of Marathon, Texas
  4. 1.7 11 km NNE of Alpine, Texas
  5. 1.5 21 km SE of Alpine, Texas
  6. 2.0 12 km NE of Alpine, Texas
  7. 2.0 11 km NNE of Alpine, Texas
  8. 2.0 11 km NNE of Alpine, Texas
  9. 2.2 11 km NNE of Alpine, Texas
  10. 2.1 western Texas
  11. 1.8 22 km NW of Marathon, Texas
  12. 2.3 22 km ENE of Alpine, Texas
  13. 1.8 13 km NNE of Alpine, 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.