El Turquillo, New Mexico
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Mora census division. It lies in ZIP code area 87722. It lies near Solis Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Comanche Peak quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 12 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Raton quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Raton quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1965 USGS Comanche Peak quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1983 USGS Taos quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1994 USGS Comanche Peak quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
74 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 74 fires within 5 miles of El Turquillo between 1993 and 2020, burning about 16,340 acres in total. 42 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 42 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 23 |
| Debris and open burning | 7 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2002 | Natural | 6.0 acres | New Mexico State Forestry Division | CHARLIE |
| 7 September 2002 | Natural | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | WINDY |
| 6 September 2020 | Natural | 4.0 acres | Las Vegas District | 21-40460262X |
| 30 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | LUCERO |
| 3 September 2012 | Natural | 2.2 acres | Las Vegas District | ROGUE |
| 4 August 2016 | Natural | under an acre | Las Vegas District | COYOTE |
| 31 August 2009 | Natural | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | LA JARA |
| 30 August 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | New Mexico State Forestry Division | BIGRED |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of El Turquillo: 3 prospects, 3 past producers, 3 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Uranium, Mica, Uranium, Vanadium, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A & M Mining | Mica | Prospect | ||
| John Hays Mine | Copper, Silver, Uranium | Past Producer | 1885, 1917 | |
| Le Deoux Ranch Lease Mine | Uranium, Vanadium, Copper | Past Producer | 1885, 1954 | |
| Unnamed Prospects | Uranium, Copper | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Mine | Copper, Uranium | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Copper, Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Copper, Uranium | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Copper, Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| John Hays Mine | Copper | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
4 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names El Turquillo in 4 storm reports between 2008 and 2023: 3 flash flood, 1 flood. The reports record 1 death and 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2022 | Flash Flood | El Turquillo | 1 killed, 1 hurt, $20,000 | Heavy rain on the Calf Canyon burn scar caused flash flooding on Highway 434 near El Turquillo. A vehicle containing the 30-year-old driver John Vasquez and a 64-year-old passenger Benjamin Torres attempted to cross the flooded roadway, but were unsuccessful as the vehicle was caught in the flood waters. Vasquez was able to escape through an open car window with only minor injuries, but Torres remained trapped in the vehicle. Once the flood waters receded, first responders discovered Torres deceased in the vehicle 100 yards downstream. Vasquez was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol and fleeing an accident with knowledge of death or great bodily harm. Damages are estimated for the loss of the vehicle. |
| September 2013 | Flood | El Turquillo | $100,000 | NM 434 was closed from mile markers 17 to 24 due to flooding over roadway. NM EOC Situation Report #6 indicated severe flooding throughout the county with numerous county roads washed out. |
| July 2008 | Flash Flood | El Turquillo | $5,000 | State Road 434 was closed between mile markers 6 and 13 due to flooding. |
| June 2023 | Flash Flood | El Turquillo | - | The local emergency manager relayed reports of flash flooding over State Highway 434 at several locations between mile markers 7 and 10. There was also flooding reported over nearby county roads, including roads A034, A020, and B022 near Guadalupita and Coyote Creek State Park. No damage was reported. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Cisneros | 1.2 miles | 10 | |
| Los Medinas | 2.9 miles | 10 | |
| Los Cocas | 3.0 miles | 10 | |
| Guadalupita | 4.0 miles | 10 | |
| La Jara | 4.1 miles | 10 | |
| Lucero | 4.5 miles | 10 | |
| Ojo Feliz | 7.2 miles | 11 | |
| Rainsville | 7.3 miles | 15 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikidata item Q122547985 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 915822. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.




