Hi All. While shooting the bull with a couple of ladies last night on various topics one of which was the two little quakes in New Mexico I decided to the a little research on New Mexico and see they have to offer in the way of earthquakes. What I found was pretty impressive (depending on where you lived) so thought I would share this with you.

The earliest reported earthquake in New Mexico was an intensity V (slightly strong, M>4.8) tremor that occurred near Socorro on April 20, 1855. In the years that followed, Socorro was struck by numerous low to moderate intensity earthquakes. Most of these caused little or no damage and were felt over a small area.

However, beginning on July 2, 1906, (note that this was after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake) and lasting well into 1907 the area was affected by shocks almost daily. There were three fairly severe shocks in this series. The first was an intensity VII (very strong, M>6.1+) tremor that struck on July 12 and cracked some adobe walls and threw others down. Ground fissures and visible waves on the surface were reported with this earthquake. Another shock of intensity VII on July 16, was felt at Raton, about 230 miles northeast of Socorro and at Douglas, Arizona, about 260 miles southwest.

The epicenter was probably about 10 miles west of Socorro. On November 15, an intensity VII shock was felt over an area of about 156,000 square miles. Rumbling sounds were heard during this earthquake. Later shocks occurred at Socorro on July 18, 1913 (intensity V), January 31, 1919 (intensity IV-V), and February 1, 1919 (intensity V). An intensity V earthquake cause slight damage at Socorro on January 7, 1934. The most recent shock to affect the area occurred on July 3, 1961, causing slight damage at Socorro (intensity VI, strong, M>5.4+)

The great majority of earthquake activity in the Socorro area cannot be related to Quaternary and Pliocene faults. According to (Machette, 1982), i.e., rupture is occurring on numerous "blind" faults similar to the "blind" thrusts responsible for damaging earthquakes in the Los Angeles basin. In the absence of data on hidden faults throughout the region,

There are 3 quaternary faults in the Albuquerque metropolitan region. The Zia fault is one of three major east-dipping normal faults that define the western margin of the Rio Grande rift in the northern Albuquerque basin. The other faults are the Calabacillas fault located to the west of the Zia fault and the County Dump fault located to the east of the Zia fault.

It is felt that these faults could have a quake in the M>6.0 to M.7.0 range.

Now you know as much as I do which isn’t a whole heck of a lot. Take Care…Don in creepy town