QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4ml

Earthquake near Carlsbad, NM

USGS: 23 km W of Carlsbad, New Mexico

2:31 pm MDT, Apr 18, 2023 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 1.9 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Carlsbad Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Eddy County 18 kmCulberson County 105 kmLoving County 106 kmChaves County 108 kmLea County 110 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
2:31 pm MDT on 18 April 2023 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) W of Carlsbad, NM · earthquakes near Carlsbad
Magnitude
M 3.4 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
5 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Eddy County, 18 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1188 days ago

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) W of Carlsbad, NM, at 2:31 pm MDT on 18 April 2023 (20:31 UTC). 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: La Huerta.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 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 32.3912, -104.4793. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Eddy County, NM 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Eddy County
Culberson County, TX 105 km (65 mi) S earthquakes near Culberson County
Loving County, TX 106 km (66 mi) SE earthquakes near Loving County
Chaves County, NM 108 km (67 mi) N earthquakes near Chaves County
Lea County, NM 110 km (68 mi) ENE earthquakes near Lea County
Otero County, NM 122 km (76 mi) WNW earthquakes near Otero County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 12 km WSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico
  2. 2.6 8 km SSW of Atoka, New Mexico
  3. 2.7 32 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  4. 2.4 33 km SW of Atoka, New Mexico
  5. 2.8 13 km W of Whites City, New Mexico
  6. 2.8 12 km W of Whites City, New Mexico
  7. 3.2 12 km S of Atoka, New Mexico
  8. 2.5 41 km WNW of Whites City, New Mexico
  9. 2.6 11 km NW of Whites City, New Mexico
  10. 2.7 12 km S of Atoka, New Mexico
  11. 2.6 14 km S of Atoka, New Mexico
  12. 2.5 15 km NNW of La Huerta, New Mexico
  13. 2.5 21 km W of Carlsbad, New Mexico
  14. 2.5 15 km WNW of Whites City, New Mexico
  15. 2.7 27 km WNW of Whites City, 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.