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M3.4 earthquake 87 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake struck 87 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States at 04:20 local time (10:20 UTC) on 13 Sept 2026, at a depth of 6 km, according to USGS.

Data: USGS · updated 2026-09-14 14:26 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
3.4minor
local magnitude (Richter) (ml)
Depth
6.1 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-09-13 10:20:00 UTC
Local: 13 Sept 2026, 04:20:00 (America/Denver)
Epicentre
31.661° N, 104.432° W

Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
CarlsbadNew Mexico, United States · pop. 28,95787 kmINot felt
PecosTexas, United States · pop. 9,51793 kmINot felt
Ciudad JuárezChihuahua, Mexico · pop. 1,512,450192 kmINot felt
El PasoTexas, United States · pop. 678,815195 kmINot felt
ChihuahuaMexico · pop. 925,762372 kmINot felt

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more. Likely felt out to about 23 km.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS · TX, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
USGS · TXheadlineTexNet via U.S. Geological Survey3.4 ml6.1 km31.66° N, 104.43° W–Reviewed

How big was it?

Often felt by people at rest close to the epicentre, rarely causes damage.

It released roughly the energy of 1.9 t of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 6 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M3.4 releases about 32× the energy of M2.4, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 1.9 t of TNT vs 60 kg of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M2.4. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

46 later earthquakes within 30 km; the largest was M3.3 13 days ago. 3 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M3.4

46 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
46.473.36
50.802.55
95.242.56
107.132.74
162.063.27
200.381.96
212.001.55
213.271.87
213.743.16
214.321.68
215.242.26
215.262.26
222.512.66
222.541.76
237.071.56
238.342.16
243.321.67
249.591.77
251.582.47
255.951.76
256.301.57
265.741.77
266.421.67
267.441.66
268.862.06
269.651.58
280.093.05
281.291.86
282.861.75
285.461.76
301.011.67
306.422.07
310.382.48
313.142.46
315.061.89
325.641.87
335.631.97
341.542.35
349.432.58
350.922.56
354.471.86
360.451.710
364.552.46
368.661.86
368.712.17
369.101.76
  1. 3.367 km WNW of Pecos, Texas, United States09-15 08:48
  2. 3.285 km S of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-20 04:23
  3. 3.177 km WNW of Pecos, Texas, United States09-22 08:04
  4. 3.085 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-25 02:25
  5. 2.786 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-17 21:28
  6. 2.685 km S of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-22 16:50
  7. 2.581 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-15 13:08
  8. 2.587 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-17 09:34
  9. 2.581 km WNW of Pecos, Texas, United States09-27 23:45
  10. 2.582 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-28 01:15
  11. 2.486 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-23 21:54
  12. 2.475 km WNW of Pecos, Texas, United States09-26 08:43
  13. 2.486 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-26 11:28
  14. 2.490 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-28 14:52
  15. 2.386 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-27 15:52
  16. 2.287 km S of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-22 09:34
  17. 2.287 km S of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-22 09:35
  18. 2.187 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-23 08:40
  19. 2.188 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-28 19:02
  20. 2.066 km WNW of Pecos, Texas, United States09-24 15:11
  21. 2.071 km WNW of Pecos, Texas, United States09-26 04:45
  22. 1.986 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-21 18:42
  23. 1.972 km WNW of Pecos, Texas, United States09-27 09:57
  24. 1.879 km WNW of Pecos, Texas, United States09-22 07:36
  25. 1.886 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States09-25 03:37

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.

Reports on SeismoAtlas

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Event id tx2026sawssd. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:11 UTC. Solutions: USGS · TX (usgs:tx2026sawssd). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M3.4 earthquake 87 km SSW of Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/tx2026sawssd-m3-4-earthquake-87-km-ssw-of-carlsbad-new-mexico-united-states, data from USGS.

JSON: /api/v1/events/tx2026sawssd. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.