Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Questa, NM
No earthquake was likely felt in Questa in the 24 hours to 7:07 pm MST (02:07 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 68 km (42 mi) NE, at 3:34 am MST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Questa
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 37 km (23 mi) east of Questa, NM, at 2:34 pm MDT on 18 September 2024 (20:34 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 20 km E of Red River, New Mexico
- When
- 2:34 pm MDT on 18 September 2024 ()
- Where
- 37 km (23 mi) east of Questa, NM · earthquakes near Questa
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Taos County, 45 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 718 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Questa, NM
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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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Questa, 37 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 4.2 on 2016-12-23 — about 4,000 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 36.7391, -105.1769. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taos County, NM | 45 km (28 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Taos County |
| Colfax County, NM | 50 km (31 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Colfax County |
| Costilla County, CO | 64 km (40 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Costilla County |
| Mora County, NM | 87 km (54 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Mora County |
| Conejos County, CO | 103 km (64 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Conejos County |
| Alamosa County, CO | 107 km (66 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alamosa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 30 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 1.5 23 km NW of Maxwell, New Mexico
- 2.2 25 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 1.7 19 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 1.5 20 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 2.2 19 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 2.0 17 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 1.6 32 km S of Segundo, Colorado
- 3.4 16 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 2.7 28 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
- 1.9 15 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 2.0 32 km WSW of Raton, New Mexico
- 2.7 30 km WSW of Raton, New Mexico
- 1.5 20 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 1.5 33 km WSW of Raton, 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.