QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7mb_lg

New Mexico

Yes. A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded in New Mexico, at 3:53 am MDT on 3 September 2022 (09:53 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

· 5.0 km deep · released about 340 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Loving County 44 kmWinkler County 54 kmLea County 64 kmAndrews County 72 kmWard County 83 kmEddy County 89 kmEctor County 90 kmGaines County 93 kmReeves County 106 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
Magnitude
M 2.7 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Loving County, 44 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1457 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 56 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Jal 23 km, intensity III · Eunice 33 km, intensity II · Kermit 50 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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 2021-07-19 — 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 32.2203, -103.4011. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Loving County, TX 44 km (28 mi) SSW earthquakes near Loving County
Winkler County, TX 54 km (34 mi) SE earthquakes near Winkler County
Lea County, NM 64 km (40 mi) N earthquakes near Lea County
Andrews County, TX 72 km (45 mi) E earthquakes near Andrews County
Ward County, TX 83 km (52 mi) SSE earthquakes near Ward County
Eddy County, NM 89 km (55 mi) WNW earthquakes near Eddy County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 35 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  2. 1.9 35 km ESE of Malaga, New Mexico
  3. 2.0 39 km NNW of Mentone, Texas
  4. 2.6 34 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  5. 2.0 31 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  6. 1.7 34 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  7. 2.9 34 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  8. 1.9 26 km SW of Jal, New Mexico
  9. 2.4 25 km SW of Eunice, New Mexico
  10. 1.6 34 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  11. 1.9 34 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  12. 2.7 16 km NE of Jal, New Mexico
  13. 2.0 34 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  14. 3.3 34 km SE of Malaga, New Mexico
  15. 2.1 34 km SE of Malaga, 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.