ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed that two earthquakes struck on the west side of metropolitan Albuquerque Tuesday morning.

According to the USGS, a magnitude 2.5 quake struck near Double Eagle II Airport at around 9:36 a.m. About an hour earlier, around 8:11 a.m., a magnitude 2.8 quake struck farther north, closer to Rio Rancho and near the Bernalillo-Sandoval County line.

Many people in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque’s West Side reported feeling some shaking around that time. The USGS released this intensity map showing the level of intensity of the shaking:

How often do earthquakes occur in New Mexico?

Earthquakes don’t happen as often in New Mexico as they do in places like California and Alaska, but they do happen. Earlier this year, people in Carlsbad and Artesia felt ripples from a 4.0-magnitude quake, just months after they felt ripples from a 5.2-magnitude quake in Texas. Around the same time, two earthquakes shook the Santa Fe National Forest.

In November 2022, the area near the Texas-New Mexico border was hit by no fewer than six earthquakes, which had major consequences for our state.

The last time an earthquake struck Albuquerque was on January 4, 1971, according to the USGS. The epicenter of the 4.7 magnitude quake was in the 1800 block of Morningside Dr. NE, just south of Indian School and southeast of Indian School and Carlisle.

Just over a month earlier, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck in the 1500 block of Bryn Mawr Dr. NE, near Haines and just southeast of Indian School and Girard.

According to the USGS, Isleta Pueblo was also hit by a magnitude 2.9 earthquake on December 9, 1991, while a 3.5 earthquake recently struck near Belen on September 29, 2012.