QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml(texnet)

56 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico

Yes. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 56 km SSW of Whites City, New Mexico, at 10:19 am CST on 9 November 2023 (16:19 UTC), 5.1 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 5.1 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Culberson County 26 kmHudspeth County 84 kmReeves County 88 kmEddy County 89 kmLoving County 93 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 3.1 (ml(texnet))
Depth
5.1 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Culberson County, 26 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1033 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 128 km (80 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 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 5.0 on 2020-03-26 — about 710 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 31.6790, -104.5270. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Culberson County, TX 26 km (16 mi) S earthquakes near Culberson County
Hudspeth County, TX 84 km (52 mi) WSW earthquakes near Hudspeth County
Reeves County, TX 88 km (54 mi) ESE earthquakes near Reeves County
Eddy County, NM 89 km (55 mi) NNE earthquakes near Eddy County
Loving County, TX 93 km (58 mi) ENE earthquakes near Loving County
Jeff Davis County, TX 121 km (75 mi) SSE earthquakes near Jeff Davis County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 western Texas
  2. 1.6 56 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  3. 1.5 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  4. 1.5 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  5. 2.2 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  6. 1.8 40 km W of Mentone, Texas
  7. 1.7 western Texas
  8. 1.6 40 km W of Mentone, Texas
  9. 2.2 39 km W of Mentone, Texas
  10. 1.6 53 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  11. 1.8 44 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  12. 2.4 53 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  13. 1.5 44 km NW of Toyah, Texas
  14. 1.7 39 km WSW of Mentone, Texas
  15. 1.6 44 km NW of Toyah, 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.