QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml(texnet)

51 km SSE of Whites City, New Mexico

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 51 km SSE of Whites City, New Mexico, at 4:08 am MST on 5 November 2023 (11:08 UTC), 6.4 km deep.

· 6.4 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culberson County 47 kmLoving County 59 kmReeves County 66 kmEddy County 80 kmWard County 105 kmWinkler County 107 kmHudspeth 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 1.9 (ml(texnet))
Depth
6.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Culberson County, 47 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1101 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 20 km (12 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 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 5.4 on 2022-11-16 — about 180,000 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 31.7480, -104.1780. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culberson County, TX 47 km (29 mi) SW earthquakes near Culberson County
Loving County, TX 59 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Loving County
Reeves County, TX 66 km (41 mi) SE earthquakes near Reeves County
Eddy County, NM 80 km (50 mi) N earthquakes near Eddy County
Ward County, TX 105 km (65 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ward County
Winkler County, TX 107 km (66 mi) E earthquakes near Winkler 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. 1.9 37 km NNW of Toyah, Texas
  2. 2.2 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  3. 2.4 western Texas
  4. 1.6 38 km WSW of Mentone, Texas
  5. 2.0 38 km WSW of Mentone, Texas
  6. 1.7 40 km W of Mentone, Texas
  7. 1.6 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  8. 2.2 37 km NNW of Toyah, Texas
  9. 1.5 western Texas
  10. 1.9 40 km W of Mentone, Texas
  11. 2.8 western Texas
  12. 2.1 37 km WSW of Mentone, Texas
  13. 1.7 40 km W of Mentone, Texas
  14. 2.1 38 km WSW of Mentone, Texas
  15. 1.8 39 km WSW of Mentone, Texas

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.