Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6ml
Earthquake near Dulce, NM
No earthquake was likely felt in Dulce in the 24 hours to 10:38 am MST (17:38 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 179 km (111 mi) E, at 3:34 am MST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Dulce
This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) south-southeast of Dulce, NM, at 11:02 am MST on 15 December 2025 (18:02 UTC), 5.8 km deep.
USGS: 22 km WSW of Los Ojos, New Mexico
- When
- 11:02 am MST on 15 December 2025 ()
- Where
- 35 km (22 mi) south-southeast of Dulce, NM · earthquakes near Dulce
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Rio Arriba County, 19 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 246 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Dulce, 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 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 69 km (43 mi) from the epicentre. In Dulce, 35 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.
Likely felt in: Dulce 35 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.2 on 2021-07-12 — about 7.9 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 36.6555, -106.8086. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Arriba County, NM | 19 km (12 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Rio Arriba County |
| Archuleta County, CO | 65 km (40 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Archuleta County |
| Conejos County, CO | 84 km (52 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Conejos County |
| Rio Grande County, CO | 98 km (61 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Rio Grande County |
| Los Alamos County, NM | 98 km (61 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Los Alamos County |
| Mineral County, CO | 101 km (63 mi) | N | earthquakes near Mineral 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.
- 3.5 17 km WSW of Los Ojos, New Mexico
- 2.5 26 km WSW of Los Ojos, New Mexico
- 2.6 26 km WSW of Los Ojos, 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.