QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near Dulce, NM

No earthquake was likely felt in Dulce in the 24 hours to 1:29 pm MST (20:29 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) south-southeast of Dulce, NM, at 12:45 am MDT on 5 July 2026 (06:45 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 26 km WSW of Los Ojos, New Mexico

12:45 am MDT, Jul 5, 2026 · · 11 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rio Arriba County 20 kmArchuleta County 65 kmConejos County 87 kmLos Alamos County 98 kmRio Grande County 100 kmMineral County 102 kmSandoval County 106 kmTaos County 108 kmLa Plata County 114 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
12:45 am MDT on 5 July 2026 ()
Where
35 km (22 mi) south-southeast of Dulce, NM · earthquakes near Dulce
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Rio Arriba County, 20 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 53 days ago

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 19 km (12 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.

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 4.2 on 2021-07-12 — about 350 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 36.6396, -106.8488. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rio Arriba County, NM 20 km (12 mi) SE earthquakes near Rio Arriba County
Archuleta County, CO 65 km (40 mi) NNW earthquakes near Archuleta County
Conejos County, CO 87 km (54 mi) NE earthquakes near Conejos County
Los Alamos County, NM 98 km (61 mi) SSE earthquakes near Los Alamos County
Rio Grande County, CO 100 km (62 mi) NNE earthquakes near Rio Grande County
Mineral County, CO 102 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

1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 3.5 17 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.