Earthquake swarm rattles Valencia County, strongest near Las Nutrias
A 3.9 quake near Las Nutrias was followed by more shaking south of Belen, but officials reported no injuries or damage.
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake near Las Nutrias left Valencia County residents asking the same immediate question: is this routine rattling or the start of something bigger? For now, local officials reported no injuries or damage, even as the shaking was felt across parts of Belen, Rio Communities and Los Lunas.
The strongest quake in the cluster was a reviewed U.S. Geological Survey event measured at magnitude 3.9, centered 1 kilometer east-southeast of Las Nutrias at 17:41 UTC on June 14 and about 10.0 kilometers, or 6.2 miles, underground. That quake did not stand alone. Sunday’s sequence started with a magnitude 3.7 tremor near Abeytas, followed minutes later by the 3.9 near Las Nutrias. Later in the afternoon, two smaller quakes, magnitudes 2.7 and 2.9, were reported west of the earlier epicenters.
The pattern continued Wednesday before dawn, when six earthquakes struck south of Belen between 3:44 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. The strongest in that burst was a magnitude 3.8 near Veguita. KOAT reported that residents in Belen, Rio Communities and Los Lunas may also have felt the shaking around 11:45 a.m. Sunday, while the Valencia County Fire Department said there was no reported damage or injuries at that time.
Seismologists say the activity fits a familiar pattern for central New Mexico. Mairi Litherland of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology said the quakes are typical of the long-running seismicity tied to the Socorro magma body, a source roughly 12 miles beneath the surface that slowly expands and stresses the crust. Litherland also said the Socorro area is the most seismically active part of New Mexico, and that similar swarms have been seen for decades without evidence of unusual or escalating danger.
The local reaction was immediate. The Valencia County Fire Department’s Facebook post drew hundreds of comments from people in Los Chavez, Peralta, Belen and Veguita describing what they felt. The broader geologic backdrop helps explain why: New Mexico has 162 faults, and 20 are considered active based on evidence of surface-rupturing earthquakes within the last 15,000 years.
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