QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Jal, NM

USGS: 12 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico

86 km (53 mi) W of Odessa, TX

9:36 am MDT, Jul 23, 2026 · · 8.2 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Jal Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Winkler County 26 kmLoving County 35 kmWard County 56 kmAndrews County 66 kmEctor County 68 kmLea County 89 kmReeves County 89 kmCrane County 96 kmGaines County 100 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
9:36 am MDT on 23 July 2026 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) SSW of Jal, NM · earthquakes near Jal
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
8.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Winkler County, 26 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 71 days ago

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) SSW of Jal, NM, at 9:36 am MDT on 23 July 2026 (15:36 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Kermit, Wink.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.0 on 2021-07-19 — about 5,600 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 32.0050, -103.2410. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Winkler County, TX 26 km (16 mi) SE earthquakes near Winkler County
Loving County, TX 35 km (22 mi) WSW earthquakes near Loving County
Ward County, TX 56 km (35 mi) SSE earthquakes near Ward County
Andrews County, TX 66 km (41 mi) ENE earthquakes near Andrews County
Ector County, TX 68 km (42 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ector County
Lea County, NM 89 km (56 mi) N earthquakes near Lea County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 41 km N of Mentone, Texas
  2. 1.6 40 km ESE of Malaga, New Mexico
  3. 2.0 40 km ESE of Malaga, New Mexico
  4. 1.6 18 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
  5. 2.6 19 km NNW of Jal, New Mexico
  6. 1.5 12 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
  7. 1.6 12 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
  8. 2.7 12 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
  9. 1.6 40 km ESE of Malaga, New Mexico
  10. 1.6 36 km ESE of Malaga, New Mexico
  11. 1.7 36 km ESE of Malaga, New Mexico
  12. 2.4 12 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
  13. 1.6 11 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
  14. 1.6 12 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
  15. 2.1 39 km ESE of Malaga, 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.