QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5ml

Earthquake near Paradise Hills, NM

No earthquake was likely felt in Paradise Hills in the 24 hours to 5:12 am MST (12:12 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 260 km (161 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 Paradise Hills

This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) west-northwest of Paradise Hills, NM, at 8:11 am MDT on 10 September 2024 (14:11 UTC), 6.2 km deep. 26 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 7 km WNW of Paradise Hills, New Mexico

18 km (11 mi) NW of Albuquerque, NM · 10 km (6 mi) SW of Rio Rancho, NM

8:11 am MDT, Sep 10, 2024 · · 6.2 km deep · released about 2.7 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Bernalillo County 21 kmSandoval County 52 kmValencia County 56 kmSanta Fe County 81 kmLos Alamos County 84 kmTorrance County 110 kmCibola 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
8:11 am MDT on 10 September 2024 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) west-northwest of Paradise Hills, NM · earthquakes near Paradise Hills
Magnitude
M 3.5 (ml)
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
26 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Bernalillo County, 21 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Jemez-San Ysidro fault, 7 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 720 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 63 km (39 mi) from the epicentre. In Paradise Hills, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Rio Rancho, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, Lee Acres, North Valley, Corrales, Albuquerque.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.7 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.6× more

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 35.2227, -106.7783. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Bernalillo County, NM 21 km (13 mi) SSE earthquakes near Bernalillo County
Sandoval County, NM 52 km (32 mi) N earthquakes near Sandoval County
Valencia County, NM 56 km (35 mi) S earthquakes near Valencia County
Santa Fe County, NM 81 km (50 mi) ENE earthquakes near Santa Fe County
Los Alamos County, NM 84 km (52 mi) NNE earthquakes near Los Alamos County
Torrance County, NM 110 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Torrance 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.

  1. 3.0 4 km WSW of Los Lunas, New Mexico
  2. 3.2 8 km WSW of Paradise Hills, 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.