QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near La Huerta, NM

USGS: 15 km NNW of La Huerta, New Mexico

2:18 pm MDT, Aug 14, 2024 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Eddy County 13 kmLea County 85 kmChaves County 89 kmLoving County 106 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
2:18 pm MDT on 14 August 2024 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) NNW of La Huerta, NM · earthquakes near La Huerta
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Eddy County, 13 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 706 days ago

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) NNW of La Huerta, NM, at 2:18 pm MDT on 14 August 2024 (20:18 UTC). 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: Carlsbad, Atoka.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 lb of TNT

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2024-02-23 — about 180 times the energy of this one.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 32.5765, -104.2815. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Eddy County, NM 13 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near Eddy County
Lea County, NM 85 km (53 mi) ENE earthquakes near Lea County
Chaves County, NM 89 km (55 mi) NNW earthquakes near Chaves County
Loving County, TX 106 km (66 mi) SE earthquakes near Loving County
Winkler County, TX 142 km (88 mi) SE earthquakes near Winkler County
Ward County, TX 162 km (101 mi) SE earthquakes near Ward County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 12 km S of Atoka, New Mexico
  2. 2.5 9 km S of Atoka, New Mexico
  3. 3.1 17 km NW of Whites City, New Mexico
  4. 4.4 9 km SSW of Atoka, New Mexico
  5. 2.8 14 km SSW of Atoka, New Mexico
  6. 3.0 11 km S of Atoka, New Mexico
  7. 3.6 22 km WSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico
  8. 3.1 28 km NW of Whites City, New Mexico
  9. 2.5 19 km WSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico
  10. 2.6 30 km W of Carlsbad, New Mexico
  11. 2.8 30 km NW of Whites City, New Mexico
  12. 2.6 24 km W of Carlsbad, New Mexico
  13. 2.6 34 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  14. 2.5 35 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  15. 3.7 19 km NNW 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.