QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

33 km S of Stonewall Gap, Colorado

Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 33 km S of Stonewall Gap, Colorado, at 1:53 am MDT on 13 September 2024 (07:53 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

· 5.0 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Colfax County 43 kmCostilla County 60 kmTaos County 63 kmHuerfano County 93 kmMora County 97 kmLas Animas County 101 kmAlamosa County 105 kmConejos County 111 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 1.5 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Colfax County, 43 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 720 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 9 km (6 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.3 on 2023-03-10 — about 16,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.3 6 km S of Valdez, Colorado · 37 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 20 km S of Weston, Colorado · 20 km ENE 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 36.8502, -105.0173. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Colfax County, NM 43 km (27 mi) SE earthquakes near Colfax County
Costilla County, CO 60 km (37 mi) NW earthquakes near Costilla County
Taos County, NM 63 km (39 mi) WSW earthquakes near Taos County
Huerfano County, CO 93 km (58 mi) N earthquakes near Huerfano County
Mora County, NM 97 km (60 mi) S earthquakes near Mora County
Las Animas County, CO 101 km (63 mi) ENE earthquakes near Las Animas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 32 km NNE of Cimarron, New Mexico
  2. 2.0 31 km S of Segundo, Colorado
  3. 1.5 31 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
  4. 1.6 30 km S of Segundo, Colorado
  5. 2.0 31 km NNE of Cimarron, New Mexico
  6. 2.1 12 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  7. 1.5 32 km WSW of Raton, New Mexico
  8. 1.7 30 km WSW of Raton, New Mexico
  9. 1.5 25 km S of Weston, Colorado
  10. 2.6 18 km S of Weston, Colorado
  11. 2.0 18 km S of Weston, Colorado
  12. 2.2 32 km S of Segundo, Colorado
  13. 1.5 33 km SSW of Weston, Colorado
  14. 1.7 7 km SSW of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  15. 2.3 12 km SW of Weston, 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.