Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1ml
Earthquake near Las Vegas, NM
No earthquake was likely felt in Las Vegas in the 24 hours to 5:28 am MST (12:28 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 167 km (104 mi) N, at 3:34 am MST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Las Vegas
This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) north-northwest of Las Vegas, NM, at 5:35 am MDT on 29 September 2017 (11:35 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 21 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 17 km S of Mora, New Mexico
- When
- 5:35 am MDT on 29 September 2017 ()
- Where
- 27 km (17 mi) north-northwest of Las Vegas, NM · earthquakes near Las Vegas
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 21 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Mora County, 41 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3246 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Las Vegas, NM
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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 41 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Las Vegas, 27 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.
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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- 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.
Where
Epicentre 35.8170, -105.3304. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mora County, NM | 41 km (26 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Mora County |
| San Miguel County, NM | 61 km (38 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Miguel County |
| Santa Fe County, NM | 66 km (41 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Santa Fe County |
| Los Alamos County, NM | 88 km (55 mi) | W | earthquakes near Los Alamos County |
| Taos County, NM | 89 km (55 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Taos County |
| Colfax County, NM | 108 km (67 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Colfax 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.