ALBUQUERQUE, NM – The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed that a magnitude 2.5 earthquake occurred near Double Eagle II Airport Tuesday morning.
According to the USGS, it happened at about 9:36 a.m. The earthquake had a depth of about 6.3 miles.
Many people in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque’s West Side reported feeling some earthquakes at the time. The USGS released this intensity map showing the magnitude of the shaking:
How common are earthquakes in New Mexico?
Earthquakes are not as common in New Mexico as they are in California and Alaska, but they do happen. Earlier this year, people in Carlsbad and Artesia felt the tremors of a magnitude 4.0 earthquake, just months after feeling the tremors of a magnitude 5.2 earthquake in Texas. Around the same time, two earthquakes struck the Santa Fe National Forest.
In November 2022, no fewer than six earthquakes struck an area near the Texas-New Mexico border, sending ripples all the way to our state.
The last earthquake in Albuquerque occurred on January 4, 1971, according to the USGS. The epicenter of the magnitude 4.7 earthquake was in the 1800 block of Morningside Dr. NE, south of Indian School and southeast of Indian School and Carlisle.
Just over a month earlier, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck in the 1500 block of Bryn Mawr Dr. NE, near Haines and southeast of Indian School and Girard.
According to the USGS, a magnitude 2.9 earthquake also occurred on Isleta Pueblo on December 9, 1991, while more recently, on September 29, 2012, a magnitude 3.5 earthquake occurred near Belen.
