Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6ml
Earthquake near Jal, NM
Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) southwest of Jal, NM, at 6:54 pm MDT on 18 October 2026 (00:54 UTC), 6.1 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet.
USGS: 18 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
92 km (57 mi) W of Odessa, TX
- When
- 6:54 pm MDT on 18 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) southwest of Jal, NM · earthquakes near Jal
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Loving County, 28 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 52 minutes ago
Earthquake alerts for Jal, NM
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Jal, NM. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 51 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In Jal, 19 km away, the estimate is intensity III (weak). 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.
Likely felt in: Jal 19 km, intensity III · Kermit 24 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 130 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 31.9780, -103.3090. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loving County, TX | 28 km (17 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Loving County |
| Winkler County, TX | 29 km (18 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Winkler County |
| Ward County, TX | 55 km (34 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ward County |
| Andrews County, TX | 73 km (45 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Andrews County |
| Ector County, TX | 73 km (46 mi) | E | earthquakes near Ector County |
| Reeves County, TX | 84 km (52 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Reeves County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
2 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.