5.4-magnitude earthquake rattles rural southeastern New Mexico, West Texas

A 5.4-magnitude earthquake shook a rural area of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico Saturday night.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the earthquake occurred at 7:47 p.m. local time, with an epicenter in West Texas, about 35 miles south of Whites City, New Mexico. It was initially measured at a magnitude of 5.3 before being upgraded to 5.4. 

Whites City is a small resort town located near Carlsbad Caverns National Park, just north of the Texas border and about 95 miles south of Roswell, New Mexico.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 3.9 miles. Jennifer Armendariz, an emergency manager for Eddy County, New Mexico, which includes Whites City, told CBS News in an email that “although” the earthquake “was felt by many residents,” there were “no calls into either dispatch or my office for damage at this time.”   

As of 9:45 p.m., the USGS’ Felt Report feature had received nearly 1,500 public responses. The large quake was followed in the region by two smaller 2.9-magnitude aftershocks. 

On the morning of April 14, a 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit San Diego County and was widely felt across Southern California and northern Mexico. Seismologists said the earthquake was likely associated with a branch of the San Andreas Fault system.