rock burst · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9ml
Earthquake near Paonia, CO
No earthquake was likely felt in Paonia in the 24 hours to 4:07 pm MST (23:07 UTC). The last one was M 3.7, 311 km (193 mi) SE, at 1:55 am MDT on 1 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 6 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Paonia
No: USGS classifies this as a rock burst, not an earthquake. A magnitude 2.9 rock burst was recorded 17 km (11 mi) east of Paonia, CO, at 3:09 pm MDT on 2 September 2018 (21:09 UTC), 2.7 km deep.
USGS: 17 km E of Paonia, Colorado
- When
- 3:09 pm MDT on 2 September 2018 ()
- Where
- 17 km (11 mi) east of Paonia, CO · earthquakes near Paonia
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Gunnison County, 38 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2926 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Paonia, CO
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Paonia, CO. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 32 km (20 mi) from the epicentre. In Paonia, 17 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.
USGS catalogues this as rock burst, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 38.8839, -107.3943. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gunnison County, CO | 38 km (23 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Gunnison County |
| Delta County, CO | 41 km (25 mi) | W | earthquakes near Delta County |
| Pitkin County, CO | 56 km (34 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Pitkin County |
| Ouray County, CO | 88 km (55 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Ouray County |
| Garfield County, CO | 91 km (57 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Garfield County |
| Montrose County, CO | 92 km (57 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Montrose County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
10 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 10 km NE of Redstone, Colorado
- 1.5 13 km ENE of Paonia, Colorado
- 1.9 11 km E of Paonia, Colorado
- 1.6 9 km ESE of Paonia, Colorado
- 1.8 11 km NNE of Paonia, Colorado
- 2.4 9 km NW of Mount Crested Butte, Colorado
- 1.9 10 km SE of Crystal, Colorado
- 2.1 3 km NNW of Mount Crested Butte, Colorado
- 1.9 10 km NNW of Mount Crested Butte, Colorado
- 1.6 3 km WNW of Crystal, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.