April 18, 2013 Earthquake: West, Texas, United States
A magnitude 2.1 earthquake struck West, Texas, United States on April 18, 2013 at 00:50:38 UTC, 0 km below the surface. It killed 14 people.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- April 18, 2013
- Time
- 00:50:38 UTC
- Place
- West, Texas, United States
- Magnitude
- 2.1 (mb)
- Focal depth
- 0 km (0 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 31.817° N, 97.088° W
- Country
- United States
The toll
- Deaths
- 14
- Injuries
- 200
- Damage
- $100 million
- Houses destroyed
- 50
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Fourteen people killed, 200 injured and at least 50 buildings
destroyed due to a fertilizer factory explosion at West. Damage estimated at about 100 million U.S. dollars. The magnitude measures only the ground motion, not the air wave, so is substantially less than the true size of the event. Felt (IV) at Alvarado; (III) at Cleburne, Ennis, Midlothian, Venus and Waxahachie; (II) at Blum. Felt in the Fairfield-
Fort Worth-McKinney area. (reference #1053)
More
Significant earthquakes of 2013The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2013Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 10036.