QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4ml

Earthquake near Battlement Mesa, CO

No earthquake was likely felt in Battlement Mesa in the 24 hours to 3:01 pm MST (22:01 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 734 km (456 mi) ESE, at 4:21 am MDT on 23 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 499 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Battlement Mesa

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) northwest of Battlement Mesa, CO, at 4:42 am MDT on 25 August 2018 (10:42 UTC), 3.2 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 44 km NW of Parachute, Colorado

4:42 am MDT, Aug 25, 2018 · · 3.2 km deep · released about 1.9 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Battlement Mesa Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rio Blanco County 33 kmGarfield County 46 kmMesa County 79 kmMoffat County 100 kmUintah County 103 kmDelta County 108 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
4:42 am MDT on 25 August 2018 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) northwest of Battlement Mesa, CO · earthquakes near Battlement Mesa
Magnitude
M 3.4 (ml)
Depth
3.2 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Rio Blanco County, 33 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2932 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 58 km (36 mi) from the epicentre. In Battlement Mesa, 47 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4× more

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2018-08-24 — about 11 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.4 46 km NW of Parachute, Colorado · 9 km NE 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 39.7290, -108.4262. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rio Blanco County, CO 33 km (21 mi) NE earthquakes near Rio Blanco County
Garfield County, CO 46 km (29 mi) ESE earthquakes near Garfield County
Mesa County, CO 79 km (49 mi) S earthquakes near Mesa County
Moffat County, CO 100 km (62 mi) N earthquakes near Moffat County
Uintah County, UT 103 km (64 mi) WNW earthquakes near Uintah County
Delta County, CO 108 km (67 mi) SSE earthquakes near Delta County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 29 km WNW of De Beque, Colorado
  2. 1.7 24 km NNE of Loma, Colorado
  3. 2.0 28 km ESE of Rangely, Colorado
  4. 2.5 Colorado
  5. 1.5 28 km NW of De Beque, Colorado
  6. 1.7 11 km NE of Battlement Mesa, Colorado
  7. 1.6 22 km NNE of Loma, Colorado
  8. 1.6 35 km NNE of Loma, Colorado
  9. 3.0 25 km SSW of Rangely, Colorado
  10. 2.7 26 km NNE of Loma, Colorado
  11. 2.6 28 km NNE of Fruita, Colorado
  12. 2.6 24 km NNW of Parachute, Colorado
  13. 2.7 24 km NW of Rifle, Colorado
  14. 2.4 23 km NNW of Parachute, 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.