QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Raton, NM

USGS: 21 km SSW of Sequndo, Colorado

6:54 pm MST, Jan 14, 2016 · · 7.6 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Raton Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Colfax County 37 kmCostilla County 70 kmLas Animas County 78 kmHuerfano County 86 kmTaos County 87 kmMora County 106 kmAlamosa County 115 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
6:54 pm MST on 14 January 2016 ()
Where
30 km (18 mi) W of Raton, NM · earthquakes near Raton
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
7.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Colfax County, 37 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3831 days ago

A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 30 km (18 mi) W of Raton, NM, at 6:54 pm MST on 14 January 2016 (01:54 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.3 6 km S of Valdez, Colorado · 16 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 20 km S of Weston, Colorado · 6 km WNW of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 36.9280, -104.7711. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Colfax County, NM 37 km (23 mi) SSE earthquakes near Colfax County
Costilla County, CO 70 km (44 mi) NW earthquakes near Costilla County
Las Animas County, CO 78 km (48 mi) NE earthquakes near Las Animas County
Huerfano County, CO 86 km (54 mi) N earthquakes near Huerfano County
Taos County, NM 87 km (54 mi) WSW earthquakes near Taos County
Mora County, NM 106 km (66 mi) S earthquakes near Mora County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 11 km SW of Weston, Colorado
  2. 2.7 31 km SSW of Weston, Colorado
  3. 1.8 14 km SSW of Aguilar, Colorado
  4. 1.5 15 km SW of Aguilar, Colorado
  5. 2.7 16 km SSW of Sequndo, Colorado
  6. 2.9 31 km S of Weston, Colorado
  7. 1.7 16 km SW of Aguilar, Colorado
  8. 1.9 16 km SSW of Sequndo, Colorado
  9. 3.1 12 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
  10. 2.3 13 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  11. 2.4 11 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  12. 2.5 14 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  13. 1.9 8 km NNW of El Moro, Colorado
  14. 1.5 12 km SW of Weston, Colorado
  15. 1.7 13 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.