Earthquake in West Texas shakes eastern New Mexico

An earthquake in West Texas shook part of New Mexico early Wednesday morning.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake roughly 4.6-miles deep was recorded shortly after 4:30 a.m., 23.2 miles north of Mentone, Texas, and almost 60 miles south of Carlsbad.

The quake reached as far as Chihuahua, Mexico, about 240 miles away.

Geophysicist John Bellini with the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado said the area has been seismically active for a while, but the quakes are generally smaller.

"The area has been quite active … for the last few years," Bellini said. "It's been having earthquakes … of smaller size. And today, there was a larger one."

Bellini said there was a 5.4-magnitude earthquake in November 2022 and another 5.2 in December of the same year.

He added that the quakes are not over yet.

"When you have a large earthquake, you'll have a series of aftershocks that go on for several days," Bellini said.

In that area, the USGS regularly records quakes in the magnitude 2-to-3 range.

"It'll go back to that for the most part, but it wouldn't be surprising if there were a couple of larger 3 or low 4 aftershocks as well," he said, "but we haven't seen any yet."

USGS's website showed little to no ground failure from the quake.

If you live in the area and felt the quake, let the USGS know here.