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Editor鈥檚 note: This story originally appeared online Tuesday, reporting on earthquakes in Valencia County on Sunday. It was updated Wednesday morning to report new activity

It happened again.

Just three days after a series of earthquakes rattled Valencia and Socorro counties, another swarm struck before dawn Wednesday, sending tremors through communities from Veguita to Belen and prompting a familiar question from residents:

What exactly is going on beneath the ground?

The answer lies roughly 12 miles below the Rio Grande Valley about an hour south of sa国际传媒官网网页入口, where scientists have long tracked a vast underground magma body centered near Socorro.

Invisible from the surface, the formation is slowly expanding, placing stress on the Earth鈥檚 crust and triggering recurring clusters of small earthquakes across parts of central New Mexico.

Six earthquakes struck south of Belen between 3:44 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The strongest measured magnitude 3.8 near Veguita.

Sunday kicked off with a 3.7鈥憁agnitude quake near Abeytas. Just minutes later, a slightly stronger 3.9鈥憁agnitude jolt near Las Nutrias had residents across the county checking their walls, their pets and their sanity around 11:45 a.m.

Two smaller quakes, measuring 2.7 and 2.9, followed later in the afternoon west of the earlier epicenters.

Dr. Mairi Litherland, with the New Mexico Bureau of Geology, said the pattern is familiar for the region.

鈥淭his sort of cluster of earthquakes is pretty typical of earthquakes that we see associated with the Socorro magma body.鈥�

She explained that about 12 miles beneath the surface, a slowly-expanding magma body puts stress on the crust, triggering small quakes.

This whole area around Socorro is the most seismically active part of New Mexico,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 something new; we鈥檝e seen swarms like this going back decades.鈥�

While the swarm could taper off or continue, Litherland emphasized nothing suggests an unusual or escalating threat.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a possibility there could be larger events, but there鈥檚 no reason to think anything outside the typical is likely.鈥�

Valencia County Fire Chief Matt Propp said there were no injuries or damage reported, though plenty of residents felt the jolt and took to the fire department鈥檚 Facebook post to compare notes.

鈥淚 felt it here in Los Lunas! I was lying in bed watching TV, and felt the bed and the floor move, I thought it was all in my head!鈥� Vanessa Gutierrez commented.

鈥淚t shook me here in Belen,鈥� added Wilma Ulibarri. 鈥淎s I was walking, I felt my legs shake. 鈥� It knocked my balance off and took me a few seconds to regain.鈥�

Hayley Griggs wrote on the 狈别飞蝉-叠耻濒濒别迟颈苍鈥檚 Facebook page that she was surprised by the jolt.

鈥淚 was in the bathroom and I thought someone finally hit the side of my house in Veguita off 304. I was relieved it was an earthquake lol,鈥� she wrote.

Litherland noted that while oil and gas regions in New Mexico have seen an uptick in human鈥慽nduced quakes, the Socorro area has a long, well鈥慸ocumented natural history of seismicity.

鈥淲e do see faults slipping and earthquakes,鈥� Litherland said. 鈥淏ut the magma body is deep, so we haven鈥檛 seen magma coming to the surface. Mostly, we just see it in these earthquakes.鈥�

Litherland encouraged residents to practice basic earthquake safety.

鈥淚f they feel an earthquake, they should drop, cover and hold on. They can report the earthquake they felt at the USGS Did you feel it? website.鈥�

Aubrie Moore is an intern with the New Mexico Local News Fellowships and Internships Program, which places emerging journalists in newsrooms across New Mexico. Learn more atnewmexicolocalnewsfellowships.org.