# Holy mackerel--we had a confirmed earthquake . . in New Mexico! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 30, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-mackerel-we-had-a-confirmed-earthquake-in-new-mexico/916861 "2020-07-30T19:34:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-mackerel-we-had-a-confirmed-earthquake-in-new-mexico/916861/1 "2020-07-30T19:34:13Z")
Felt it at 0904L this AM. And confirmed here: [M 3.7 - 4 km ESE of Capulin, New Mexico](https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000b6wi/executive) Tripler Not my first one, but my first one at _home_. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-mackerel-we-had-a-confirmed-earthquake-in-new-mexico/916861/2 "2020-07-30T20:27:36Z")
Congrats on losing your home-earthquake virginity! However, a M3.7 is a loaded UPS truck going past the house. Unremarkable. When you get maybe a M5.1 then you’re in the game. – 31 year California resident who lived through Loma Prieta and later experienced a M6.1 epicentered five miles from my house. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-mackerel-we-had-a-confirmed-earthquake-in-new-mexico/916861/3 "2020-07-30T20:45:16Z")
Wimp. A 3.7 doesn’t even register around here. Hell, there was a 4.7 this morning about 60 miles away and nobody has commented at all. I lived through the 1971 San Fernando, the 1983 Coalinga, the 1992 Landers, and the 1994 Northridge quakes. I think the 71 quake was the scariest, as I looked out my bedroom window in the middle of the quake and saw half the water in the neighbors pool tsunami-ing down the back alley. The aftershocks of the Landers quake were scarier than the main quake was, mainly because they were a lot closer to home. But hey, you made it through your first “home” quake. That calls for a beer or three! ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-mackerel-we-had-a-confirmed-earthquake-in-new-mexico/916861/4 "2020-07-30T21:31:38Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > However, a M3.7 is a loaded UPS truck going past the house That’s what we thought it was at first. But then my wife mentioned that the bookcases were shaking, and I thought, “_Shit, that’s one heavy-assed UPS truck. . ._” > [@silenus](#): > > Wimp. > > A 3.7 doesn’t even register around here. Hell, there was a 4.7 this morning about 60 miles away and nobody has commented at all. Did I ever mention the time I slept through a 6.something in Afghanistan? T’was the holiday season in '05-‘06, and in the middle of the night, I woke up and the whole B-Hut was shaking; it felt like someone had their foot on my bed and was kicking it to wake me up. I learned later that there was a 7.somethin’-else in Pakistan that happened. I asked others, and they corroborated–I wasn’t crazy. We normally don’t get earthquakes around here. If it weren’t for the USGS site, I would have suspected that one of our [fire-breathing, radioactive lizards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla) had gotten loose again. Tripler Gimme some credit; I’m living in the pyroclastic path of a dormant [volcano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valles_Caldera). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-mackerel-we-had-a-confirmed-earthquake-in-new-mexico/916861/5 "2020-07-30T21:34:19Z")
Yeah, getting a quake in an area not known for them can be a little…off-putting. Wonder how all those Native Americans felt when the New Madrid quake let rip? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-mackerel-we-had-a-confirmed-earthquake-in-new-mexico/916861/6 "2020-07-31T02:06:16Z")
Enlighten me what does a real earthquake feel like? I always hear the thing about the floor feeling like liquid. Serious question, not being sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-mackerel-we-had-a-confirmed-earthquake-in-new-mexico/916861/7 "2020-07-31T02:08:41Z")
I’ve slept through 2 earthquakes and was in one in California where I didn’t notice. I looked up from what I was concentrating on and wondered why people were under desks. If I’m in one that I actually notice, everyone is probably in serious trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-mackerel-we-had-a-confirmed-earthquake-in-new-mexico/916861/8 "2020-07-31T02:15:43Z")
Well @pool, today was kind of strange because at the moment it happened, I was bouncing down the hardwood flight of stairs on my way to get a cup of coffee. My wife hollered from the upstairs bedroom-office, “Honey, was that _you_??” I thought it was at first, but then she said the bookshelf was shaking. Basically, I didn’t feel much today because I was already on my feet and bouncing. That Afghani-quake, though, that felt like the whole world was shimmying under my bed. Tripler I remember it clearly, like it was yester-decade.