QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Loving, NM

No earthquake was likely felt in Loving in the 24 hours to 11:33 pm MST (06:33 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 39 km (24 mi) W, at 4:44 am MST on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Loving

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) southeast of Loving, NM, at 7:40 pm MDT on 7 September 2024 (01:40 UTC), 7.3 km deep.

USGS: 37 km ESE of Malaga, New Mexico

7:40 pm MDT, Sep 7, 2024 · · 7.3 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loving County 28 kmWinkler County 68 kmEddy County 71 kmReeves County 82 kmWard County 84 kmLea County 88 kmCulberson County 101 kmAndrews County 107 kmEctor County 114 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
7:40 pm MDT on 7 September 2024 ()
Where
44 km (27 mi) southeast of Loving, NM · earthquakes near Loving
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
7.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loving County, 28 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 791 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 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Loving, 44 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 5.0 on 2020-03-26 — about 130,000 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 32.0480, -103.7290. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loving County, TX 28 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Loving County
Winkler County, TX 68 km (42 mi) ESE earthquakes near Winkler County
Eddy County, NM 71 km (44 mi) NW earthquakes near Eddy County
Reeves County, TX 82 km (51 mi) S earthquakes near Reeves County
Ward County, TX 84 km (52 mi) SE earthquakes near Ward County
Lea County, NM 88 km (55 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lea County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 32 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  2. 1.8 20 km WNW of Mentone, Texas
  3. 2.0 35 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  4. 1.6 35 km ESE of Malaga, New Mexico
  5. 1.7 28 km S of Malaga, New Mexico
  6. 2.0 32 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  7. 1.6 12 km NNW of Mentone, Texas
  8. 1.5 48 km W of Mentone, Texas
  9. 2.3 48 km W of Mentone, Texas
  10. 2.0 22 km NNE 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.