The August 16, 1931 earthquake
M6.3Valentine, Texas
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake 6.2 miles deep, centred in Jeff Davis County. The strongest in Texas’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles in the catalogue, which runs from 1900.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- moment magnitude (mw)
- Depth
- 6.2 mi
- 10.0 km below the surface
- Local time
- Sunday, August 16, 1931
- 06:40 CDT; 11:40 UTC
- In Texas’s record
- 1st
- strongest of 4,714 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event iscgem906944 (“The 1931 Valentine, Texas Earthquake”). The USGS event page carries the ShakeMap, felt reports and the official summary.
Counties and cities within 50 miles
Distance from the epicentre to each county boundary (zero when inside) and to each city centre.
Counties
- Jeff Davis CountyTX · inside
- Presidio CountyTX · 26.5 mi
- Culberson CountyTX · 27.5 mi
- Reeves CountyTX · 27.5 mi
- Brewster CountyTX · 30.6 mi
- Pecos CountyTX · 35.5 mi
- Hudspeth CountyTX · 44.0 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
10 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more within 50 miles of this epicentre since 1973.
No earlier earthquake of magnitude 5 or more within 50 miles in the catalogue since 1900.
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.