Texas Has Seen Some Serious Earthquakes—Here’s Proof

Earthquakes don't USUALLY happen in Texas, but we're one of the only states in the United States that does. While most occur in Alaska or California, surprisingly Texas ranks amongst the states with the MOST AMOUNT of earthquakes on a yearly basis (according to Statista).

The 1931 Valentine Earthquake is the strongest ever felt in Texas history

Nearly 100 years ago, on August 16, 1931, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake was felt in West Texas in the small town of Valentine. Thanks to the USGS, there were reports of landslides all along the Van Horn Mountains, Big Bend, the Chisos Mountains & even the Guadalupe Mountains. This earthquake was so strong it was felt in nearby states like Oklahoma, New Mexico & in various parts of Mexico.

Thankfully no one was killed but several wood-frame houses were damaged while other adobe buildings suffered from torn down brick & concrete walls. There was also damaged down to the local school house and local cemeteries.

Another historic Texas earthquake was the 1995 Alpine/Marathon Earthquake

On April 14, 1995, over 30 years ago, Southwest Texas has hit by a magnitude 5.7 earthquake; which was the 3rd largest earthquake felt in the US that same year, according to the USGS. The earthquake started in the town of Alpine, Texas and the aftershocks would spread to nearby towns. Just like the Valentine Earthquake, no one was killed although 2 people were injured in Brewster County. There was news coverage of this earthquake that's still available on YouTube.

What's the strongest earthquake Texas has felt since 1995?

While we haven't felt anything as strong as the 6.5 Valentine Earthquake or the 5.7 Alpine/Marathon Earthquake, Texas HAS had a staggering amount of earthquakes to pass a magnitude 5.0 within the last decade; the strongest being a 5.4 magnitude occurring on both May 4, 2025 in Culberson County & on November 16, 2022 near El Paso.

That's not the only natural disaster Texas gets regularly; we've been known to get several tornadoes too, some reaching as high as EF5. You can see a list of EF5 tornadoes in Texas history here.

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