QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

Earthquake near Carlsbad, NM

USGS: 13 km W of Whites City, New Mexico

4:09 pm MST, Dec 5, 2024 · · 11 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Eddy County 36 kmCulberson County 83 kmLoving County 99 kmHudspeth County 115 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
4:09 pm MST on 5 December 2024 ()
Where
38 km (23 mi) SW of Carlsbad, NM · earthquakes near Carlsbad
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Eddy County, 36 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 594 days ago

A magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 38 km (23 mi) SW of Carlsbad, NM, at 4:09 pm MST on 5 December 2024 (23:09 UTC). 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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.

Where

Epicentre 32.1906, -104.5240. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Eddy County, NM 36 km (22 mi) NE earthquakes near Eddy County
Culberson County, TX 83 km (51 mi) S earthquakes near Culberson County
Loving County, TX 99 km (61 mi) ESE earthquakes near Loving County
Hudspeth County, TX 115 km (72 mi) SW earthquakes near Hudspeth County
Lea County, NM 124 km (77 mi) ENE earthquakes near Lea County
Reeves County, TX 125 km (77 mi) SE earthquakes near Reeves County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 18 km NNW of Whites City, New Mexico
  2. 3.5 19 km NNW of Whites City, New Mexico
  3. 1.5 46 km S of Whites City, New Mexico
  4. 3.3 35 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  5. 2.5 34 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  6. 2.7 33 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  7. 2.4 32 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  8. 3.3 35 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  9. 3.5 37 km W of Carlsbad, New Mexico
  10. 2.8 33 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  11. 2.8 33 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  12. 2.9 12 km WSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico
  13. 2.7 32 km SSE of Hope, New Mexico
  14. 2.4 33 km SW of Atoka, 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.