Earthquakes aren’t normally cause for much thought in the quiet desert landscape across Central New Mexico, but some Valencia County residents got a reminder on Sunday that the ground under their feet is still very much active.
The Valencia County Fire Department’s Facebook page generated hundreds of comments after it shared that they had received reports of the quake around 11:41 a.m.
One poster said, “We were in mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Peralta and we definitely felt it!” Another commented, “Felt it in Los Chavez. Felt like something was climbing up into the chair with me. (Like a child or pet has before. But none here anymore.) And my TV was off and moving. That’s when I figured it was an earthquake.”
U.S. Geological Survey data located the quake about 6.2 miles underground, 1 mile east of Las Nutrias near Rio Communities and Jarales. It measured 3.9 on the Richter scale. No injuries were reported.
There are 162 faults in New Mexico, according to the state’s Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, but only 20 are considered active based on evidence for surface-rupturing earthquakes within the last 15,000 years.