Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8ml
Earthquake near Belen, NM
No earthquake was likely felt in Belen in the 24 hours to 1:05 am MST (08:05 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 19 km (12 mi) S, at 3:10 pm MDT on 15 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 5 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Belen
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) west-southwest of Belen, NM, at 1:44 pm MDT on 17 August 2026 (19:44 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 15 km W of Pueblitos, New Mexico
59 km (37 mi) SSW of Albuquerque, NM
- When
- 1:44 pm MDT on 17 August 2026 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) west-southwest of Belen, NM · earthquakes near Belen
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Valencia County, 16 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Coyote Springs fault, 13 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 74 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Belen, NM
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Belen, 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 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Belen, 16 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.
Likely felt in: Belen 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
- 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 34.6299, -106.9460. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valencia County, NM | 16 km (10 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Valencia County |
| Bernalillo County, NM | 53 km (33 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Bernalillo County |
| Socorro County, NM | 71 km (44 mi) | S | earthquakes near Socorro County |
| Torrance County, NM | 97 km (60 mi) | E | earthquakes near Torrance County |
| Cibola County, NM | 101 km (63 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Cibola County |
| Sandoval County, NM | 117 km (73 mi) | N | earthquakes near Sandoval County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
3 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.7 2 km NNW of Las Nutrias, New Mexico
- 3.0 16 km WSW of Pueblitos, New Mexico
- 3.0 15 km WSW of Pueblitos, 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.