mining explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1ml
Earthquake near Crownpoint, NM
No earthquake was likely felt in Crownpoint in the 24 hours to 6:29 am MST (13:29 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 68 km (42 mi) SE, at 4:19 am MDT on 22 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 39 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Crownpoint
No: USGS classifies this as a mining explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 3.1 mining explosion was recorded 19 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Crownpoint, NM, at 1:40 pm MST on 20 December 2021 (20:40 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 18 km ESE of Crownpoint, New Mexico
- When
- 1:40 pm MST on 20 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Crownpoint, NM · earthquakes near Crownpoint
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- McKinley County, 28 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1716 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Crownpoint, NM
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Crownpoint, 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 42 km (26 mi) from the epicentre. In Crownpoint, 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.
USGS catalogues this as mining explosion, not an earthquake.
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 35.6413, -107.9464. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| McKinley County, NM | 28 km (18 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near McKinley County |
| Cibola County, NM | 79 km (49 mi) | S | earthquakes near Cibola County |
| Sandoval County, NM | 96 km (60 mi) | E | earthquakes near Sandoval County |
| San Juan County, NM | 103 km (64 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Bernalillo County, NM | 133 km (83 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Bernalillo County |
| Valencia County, NM | 146 km (91 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Valencia County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
3 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 19 km N of San Mateo, New Mexico
- 3.8 8 km ENE of San Mateo, New Mexico
- 2.7 18 km WSW of Pueblo Pintado, 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.