Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6ml
Earthquake near Los Alamos, NM
No earthquake was likely felt in Los Alamos in the 24 hours to 6:29 am MST (13:29 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 177 km (110 mi) NE, at 3:34 am MST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Alamos
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) west of Los Alamos, NM, at 12:24 am MST on 9 March 2023 (07:24 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 7 km WSW of La Cueva, New Mexico
84 km (52 mi) N of Albuquerque, NM
- When
- 12:24 am MST on 9 March 2023 ()
- Where
- 38 km (24 mi) west of Los Alamos, NM · earthquakes near Los Alamos
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Sandoval County, 23 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Jemez-San Ysidro fault, 8 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1276 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Los Alamos, NM
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Los Alamos, 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Alamos, 38 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Jemez Pueblo.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 250 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 35.8539, -106.7270. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandoval County, NM | 23 km (15 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Sandoval County |
| Los Alamos County, NM | 38 km (23 mi) | E | earthquakes near Los Alamos County |
| Rio Arriba County, NM | 73 km (45 mi) | N | earthquakes near Rio Arriba County |
| Santa Fe County, NM | 79 km (49 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Santa Fe County |
| Bernalillo County, NM | 89 km (55 mi) | S | earthquakes near Bernalillo County |
| Taos County, NM | 126 km (79 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Taos County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
9 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.3 13 km NNW of La Cueva, New Mexico
- 2.9 11 km NNE of Gallina, New Mexico
- 2.9 3 km WSW of Peña Blanca, New Mexico
- 2.9 7 km ENE of Capulin, New Mexico
- 2.8 7 km ESE of Cuba, New Mexico
- 3.5 9 km E of Cuba, New Mexico
- 2.5 10 km E of Cuba, New Mexico
- 2.9 3 km ESE of Capulin, New Mexico
- 2.5 11 km NW of Jemez Springs, 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.