QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7ml

Earthquake near Carlsbad, NM

USGS: 32 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico

9:41 pm MST, Jan 8, 2025 · · 9.9 km deep · released about 340 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Carlsbad Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Eddy County 32 kmChaves County 93 kmOtero County 105 kmLea County 118 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
9:41 pm MST on 8 January 2025 ()
Where
40 km (25 mi) WNW of Carlsbad, NM · earthquakes near Carlsbad
Magnitude
M 2.7 (ml)
Depth
9.9 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Eddy County, 32 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 561 days ago

A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) WNW of Carlsbad, NM, at 9:41 pm MST on 8 January 2025 (04:41 UTC). 2 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 340 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 340 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 89 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 32.5330, -104.6305. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Eddy County, NM 32 km (20 mi) ESE earthquakes near Eddy County
Chaves County, NM 93 km (58 mi) N earthquakes near Chaves County
Otero County, NM 105 km (66 mi) W earthquakes near Otero County
Lea County, NM 118 km (73 mi) ENE earthquakes near Lea County
Loving County, TX 126 km (79 mi) SE earthquakes near Loving County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 24 km SSW of Atoka, New Mexico
  2. 2.9 27 km WNW of Whites City, New Mexico
  3. 2.6 28 km SW of Atoka, New Mexico
  4. 3.4 27 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  5. 2.6 28 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  6. 3.1 27 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  7. 2.9 25 km WNW of Whites City, New Mexico
  8. 2.6 5 km SSE of Livingston Wheeler, New Mexico
  9. 3.3 12 km S of Atoka, New Mexico
  10. 2.5 9 km S of Atoka, New Mexico
  11. 3.1 17 km NW of Whites City, New Mexico
  12. 4.4 9 km SSW of Atoka, New Mexico
  13. 2.8 14 km SSW of Atoka, New Mexico
  14. 3.0 11 km S of Atoka, New Mexico
  15. 3.6 22 km WSW of Carlsbad, 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.