Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.7ml
Earthquake near Ruidoso, NM
No earthquake was likely felt in Ruidoso in the 24 hours to 3:33 am MST (10:33 UTC). The last one was M 3.7, 227 km (141 mi) SE, at 3:27 pm MDT on 28 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ruidoso
This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) north-northwest of Ruidoso, NM, at 12:42 pm MDT on 6 May 2025 (18:42 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 6 km W of Nogal, New Mexico
- When
- 12:42 pm MDT on 6 May 2025 ()
- Where
- 27 km (17 mi) north-northwest of Ruidoso, NM · earthquakes near Ruidoso
- Magnitude
- M 2.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lincoln County, 36 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 487 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ruidoso, NM
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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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Ruidoso, 27 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: Capitan.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
- 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.
Where
Epicentre 33.5634, -105.7766. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln County, NM | 36 km (22 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Lincoln County |
| Otero County, NM | 105 km (66 mi) | S | earthquakes near Otero County |
| Torrance County, NM | 111 km (69 mi) | N | earthquakes near Torrance County |
| Socorro County, NM | 118 km (73 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Socorro County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further 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.