QuakeIndex

rock burst · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4ml

Colorado

No: USGS classifies this as a rock burst, not an earthquake. A magnitude 2.4 rock burst was recorded in Colorado, at 4:25 am MST on 17 February 2019 (11:25 UTC), 1.0 km deep.

· 1.0 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Routt County 2 kmJackson County 61 kmGrand County 85 kmEagle County 98 kmMoffat County 104 kmRio Blanco County 116 kmSummit County 120 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
Magnitude
M 2.4 (ml)
Depth
1.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Routt County, 2 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2751 days ago

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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

Likely felt in: Steamboat Springs 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

USGS catalogues this as rock burst, not an earthquake.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.9× the energy of this one
  4. 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

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 40.4734, -107.0010. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Routt County, CO 2 km (1 mi) NE earthquakes near Routt County
Jackson County, CO 61 km (38 mi) ENE earthquakes near Jackson County
Grand County, CO 85 km (53 mi) ESE earthquakes near Grand County
Eagle County, CO 98 km (61 mi) SSE earthquakes near Eagle County
Moffat County, CO 104 km (65 mi) W earthquakes near Moffat County
Rio Blanco County, CO 116 km (72 mi) WSW earthquakes near Rio Blanco County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 17 km WSW of Phippsburg, Colorado
  2. 1.9 26 km WSW of Yampa, Colorado
  3. 2.0 29 km WSW of Yampa, Colorado
  4. 2.3 13 km NW of Steamboat Springs, Colorado
  5. 2.0 16 km WNW of Steamboat Springs, Colorado
  6. 3.1 21 km NW of Steamboat Springs, Colorado
  7. 1.7 26 km W of Walden, Colorado
  8. 1.5 37 km NNW of Steamboat Springs, Colorado
  9. 1.5 15 km WNW of Steamboat Springs, Colorado
  10. 1.9 42 km NNW of Steamboat Springs, Colorado
  11. 1.5 42 km SSW of Encampment, Wyoming
  12. 2.5 5 km SSE of Craig, Colorado
  13. 2.0 22 km WSW of Walden, 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.