QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6mwr

24 km SSE of Animas, New Mexico

Yes. A magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 24 km SSE of Animas, New Mexico, at 7:33 am MDT on 5 August 2021 (13:33 UTC), 16 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 16 km deep · released about 3.8 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hidalgo County 18 kmCochise County 101 kmLuna County 103 kmGrant 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
Magnitude
M 3.6 (mwr)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Hidalgo County, 18 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1855 days ago

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 67 km (42 mi) from the epicentre. 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 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× 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 31.7423, -108.7085. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Hidalgo County, NM 18 km (11 mi) NNW earthquakes near Hidalgo County
Cochise County, AZ 101 km (63 mi) W earthquakes near Cochise County
Luna County, NM 103 km (64 mi) ENE earthquakes near Luna County
Grant County, NM 114 km (71 mi) NNE earthquakes near Grant County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 34 km SSW of Playas, New Mexico
  2. 2.9 33 km SSW of Playas, New Mexico
  3. 3.3 21 km SSW of Playas, New Mexico
  4. 3.3 37 km SSW of Playas, 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.