QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Trinidad, CO

No earthquake was likely felt in Trinidad in the 24 hours to 3:01 am MST (10:01 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 45 km (28 mi) WSW, at 3:34 am MST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Trinidad

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Trinidad, CO, at 10:13 am MDT on 16 July 2026 (16:13 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 9 km SE of Starkville, Colorado

10:13 am MDT, Jul 16, 2026 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Las Animas County 47 kmColfax County 52 kmHuerfano County 84 kmCostilla County 90 kmUnion County 107 kmOtero County 113 kmTaos County 118 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
10:13 am MDT on 16 July 2026 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Trinidad, CO · earthquakes near Trinidad
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Las Animas County, 47 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 55 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Trinidad, 14 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: Raton.

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 · 22 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 20 km S of Weston, Colorado · 36 km WSW 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 37.0508, -104.4498. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Las Animas County, CO 47 km (29 mi) NE earthquakes near Las Animas County
Colfax County, NM 52 km (32 mi) SSW earthquakes near Colfax County
Huerfano County, CO 84 km (52 mi) NNW earthquakes near Huerfano County
Costilla County, CO 90 km (56 mi) WNW earthquakes near Costilla County
Union County, NM 107 km (66 mi) SE earthquakes near Union County
Otero County, CO 113 km (70 mi) NE earthquakes near Otero County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.4 8 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  2. 2.1 14 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  3. 2.6 10 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  4. 3.7 17 km SSW of Weston, Colorado
  5. 2.6 25 km S of Weston, Colorado
  6. 2.4 16 km SSW of Weston, Colorado
  7. 1.7 33 km NNE of Cimarron, New Mexico
  8. 2.4 21 km S of Weston, Colorado
  9. 1.6 15 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  10. 2.6 15 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  11. 3.4 31 km S of Weston, Colorado
  12. 1.8 11 km S 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.