Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Earthquake near Carlsbad, NM
Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 41 km (26 mi) west-northwest of Carlsbad, NM, at 4:29 pm MDT on 16 October 2026 (22:29 UTC), 3.7 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet.
USGS: 33 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
- When
- 4:29 pm MDT on 16 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 41 km (26 mi) west-northwest of Carlsbad, NM · earthquakes near Carlsbad
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Eddy County, 33 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 4 hours ago
Earthquake alerts for Carlsbad, NM
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Carlsbad, NM. No account or email needed.
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 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. In Carlsbad, 41 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: Atoka 37 km, intensity II · Carlsbad 41 km, intensity II · La Huerta 41 km, intensity II · Artesia 43 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
- 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 4.4 on 2026-04-06 — about 710 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 32.5198, -104.6518. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eddy County, NM | 33 km (21 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Eddy County |
| Chaves County, NM | 95 km (59 mi) | N | earthquakes near Chaves County |
| Otero County, NM | 104 km (64 mi) | W | earthquakes near Otero County |
| Lea County, NM | 120 km (75 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Lea County |
| Culberson County, TX | 120 km (75 mi) | S | earthquakes near Culberson County |
| Loving County, TX | 127 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
2 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.