QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.9ml(texnet)

55 km S of Whites City, New Mexico

Yes. A magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded 55 km S of Whites City, New Mexico, at 3:22 am MDT on 18 October 2023 (09:22 UTC), 6.2 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 6.2 km deep · released about 11 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culberson County 29 kmReeves County 74 kmLoving County 79 kmEddy County 88 kmHudspeth County 98 kmJeff Davis 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
Magnitude
M 3.9 (ml(texnet))
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Culberson County, 29 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 763 days ago

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 431 km (268 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.9 about 11 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 22× 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 5.4 on 2022-11-16 — about 180 times the energy of this one.

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 31.6710, -104.3710. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culberson County, TX 29 km (18 mi) SSW earthquakes near Culberson County
Reeves County, TX 74 km (46 mi) ESE earthquakes near Reeves County
Loving County, TX 79 km (49 mi) ENE earthquakes near Loving County
Eddy County, NM 88 km (54 mi) N earthquakes near Eddy County
Hudspeth County, TX 98 km (61 mi) WSW earthquakes near Hudspeth County
Jeff Davis County, TX 118 km (73 mi) S earthquakes near Jeff Davis County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 western Texas
  2. 1.5 59 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico
  3. 2.0 55 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico
  4. 1.9 western Texas
  5. 2.1 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  6. 2.3 37 km W of Mentone, Texas
  7. 2.3 30 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  8. 1.9 52 km SSE of Whites City, New Mexico
  9. 2.0 western Texas
  10. 1.9 western Texas
  11. 1.7 33 km WSW of Mentone, Texas
  12. 1.7 56 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico
  13. 2.1 57 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico
  14. 2.3 western Texas
  15. 1.9 55 km S of Whites City, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.