Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.4ml
Earthquake near Parachute, CO
No earthquake was likely felt in Parachute in the 24 hours to 2:47 pm MST (21:47 UTC). The last one was M 5.0, 737 km (458 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 Parachute
This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) north-northwest of Parachute, CO, at 10:57 pm MST on 18 December 2018 (05:57 UTC), 5.6 km deep.
USGS: 23 km NNW of Parachute, Colorado
- When
- 10:57 pm MST on 18 December 2018 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) north-northwest of Parachute, CO · earthquakes near Parachute
- Magnitude
- M 2.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Garfield County, 20 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2818 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Parachute, CO
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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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Parachute, 24 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Battlement Mesa.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.9× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2018-08-24 — about 350 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.4 46 km NW of Parachute, Colorado · 25 km NW 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 39.6557, -108.1318. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garfield County, CO | 20 km (12 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Garfield County |
| Rio Blanco County, CO | 36 km (22 mi) | N | earthquakes near Rio Blanco County |
| Mesa County, CO | 76 km (47 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Mesa County |
| Delta County, CO | 91 km (57 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Delta County |
| Moffat County, CO | 106 km (66 mi) | N | earthquakes near Moffat County |
| Pitkin County, CO | 115 km (72 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Pitkin County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
11 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.8 18 km SSE of Meeker, Colorado
- 2.8 29 km WNW of De Beque, Colorado
- 2.5 22 km NNW of New Castle, Colorado
- 2.0 28 km ESE of Rangely, Colorado
- 1.5 28 km NW of De Beque, Colorado
- 1.7 12 km SE of De Beque, Colorado
- 1.7 11 km NE of Battlement Mesa, Colorado
- 1.6 35 km NNE of Loma, Colorado
- 2.6 28 km NNE of Fruita, Colorado
- 2.6 24 km NNW of Parachute, Colorado
- 2.7 24 km NW of Rifle, 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.