Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Jal, NM
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Jal in the last 24 hours. M 2.6, 16 km (10 mi) SSW of Jal, at 12:53 pm MDT on 21 October 2026 (18:53 UTC); the estimated shaking in Jal was intensity III (weak). Every earthquake near Jal
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) south-southwest of Jal, NM, at 2:42 am MDT on 20 October 2026 (08:42 UTC), 6.2 km deep.
USGS: 17 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
90 km (56 mi) W of Odessa, TX
- When
- 2:42 am MDT on 20 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 18 km (11 mi) south-southwest of Jal, NM · earthquakes near Jal
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Winkler County, 28 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2 days 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 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Jal, 18 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Kermit, Wink.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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 4.0 on 2021-07-19 — about 4,000 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 31.9800, -103.2930. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winkler County, TX | 28 km (17 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Winkler County |
| Loving County, TX | 29 km (18 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Loving County |
| Ward County, TX | 55 km (34 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ward County |
| Andrews County, TX | 72 km (45 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Andrews County |
| Ector County, TX | 72 km (45 mi) | E | earthquakes near Ector County |
| Reeves County, TX | 85 km (53 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Reeves County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
13 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 16 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.3 18 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.6 16 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 1.9 17 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 1.5 17 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.1 16 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.0 16 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.9 17 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.3 16 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.5 15 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.6 16 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 2.6 16 km SSW of Jal, New Mexico
- 1.7 16 km SSW of Jal, 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
- 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.