Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6ml
Earthquake near Jal, NM
No earthquake was likely felt in Jal in the 24 hours to 4:06 am MST (11:06 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 17 km (11 mi) SSW, at 3:01 pm MDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Jal
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) northeast of Jal, NM, at 1:56 am MDT on 4 May 2023 (07:56 UTC), 5.2 km deep.
USGS: 16 km NE of Jal, New Mexico
94 km (58 mi) WNW of Midland, TX
- When
- 1:56 am MDT on 4 May 2023 ()
- Where
- 17 km (10 mi) northeast of Jal, NM · earthquakes near Jal
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Andrews County, 43 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 190 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Jal, NM
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Jal, NM. 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 51 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In Jal, 17 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: Jal 17 km, intensity III · Eunice 24 km, intensity II · Kermit 41 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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.
Where
Epicentre 32.2290, -103.0820. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrews County, TX | 43 km (26 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Andrews County |
| Winkler County, TX | 44 km (27 mi) | S | earthquakes near Winkler County |
| Loving County, TX | 62 km (39 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Loving County |
| Ector County, TX | 65 km (40 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Ector County |
| Lea County, NM | 70 km (44 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Lea County |
| Gaines County, TX | 71 km (44 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Gaines County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 21 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.5 20 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 1.8 20 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.2 20 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.0 21 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.0 20 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.3 20 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.9 20 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 1.8 21 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.4 21 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 1.6 20 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.3 20 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 1.6 19 km E of Jal, New Mexico
- 1.5 20 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.0 23 km E of Jal, New Mexico
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.