Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.8ml
Earthquake near Grants, NM
No earthquake was likely felt in Grants in the 24 hours to 7:41 am MST (14:41 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 27 km (17 mi) ENE, at 4:19 am MDT on 22 August 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 39 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Grants
This page: a magnitude 3.8 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) northeast of Grants, NM, at 7:04 pm MDT on 17 May 2023 (01:04 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 15 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 8 km ENE of San Mateo, New Mexico
88 km (55 mi) WNW of Albuquerque, NM
- When
- 7:04 pm MDT on 17 May 2023 ()
- Where
- 36 km (22 mi) northeast of Grants, NM · earthquakes near Grants
- Magnitude
- M 3.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 15 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Cibola County, 63 km SW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1207 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Grants, NM
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Grants, 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 83 km (52 mi) from the epicentre. In Grants, 36 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.
Likely felt in: Grants 36 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 22,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.8 about 7.6 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 16× 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 35.3661, -107.5612. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cibola County, NM | 63 km (39 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Cibola County |
| McKinley County, NM | 67 km (42 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near McKinley County |
| Sandoval County, NM | 71 km (44 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Sandoval County |
| Bernalillo County, NM | 88 km (55 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Bernalillo County |
| Valencia County, NM | 100 km (62 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Valencia County |
| Los Alamos County, NM | 126 km (79 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Los Alamos 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.
- 2.7 11 km ESE of San Mateo, New Mexico
- 4.0 8 km SSE of San Mateo, New Mexico
- 2.8 19 km N of San Mateo, 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.