QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Orchard Mesa, CO

USGS: 24 km SSE of Orchard Mesa, Colorado

30 km (19 mi) SSE of Grand Junction, CO

3:53 pm MDT, Apr 14, 2019 · · 3.5 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mesa County 20 kmDelta County 49 kmMontrose County 50 kmSan Miguel County 93 kmOuray County 95 kmGarfield County 96 kmGrand County 100 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
3:53 pm MDT on 14 April 2019 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) SSE of Orchard Mesa, CO · earthquakes near Orchard Mesa
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
3.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mesa County, 20 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2661 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) SSE of Orchard Mesa, CO, at 3:53 pm MDT on 14 April 2019 (21:53 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Grand Junction, Fruitvale, Clifton.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 38.8419, -108.4327. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mesa County, CO 20 km (12 mi) N earthquakes near Mesa County
Delta County, CO 49 km (31 mi) E earthquakes near Delta County
Montrose County, CO 50 km (31 mi) SSE earthquakes near Montrose County
San Miguel County, CO 93 km (58 mi) S earthquakes near San Miguel County
Ouray County, CO 95 km (59 mi) SE earthquakes near Ouray County
Garfield County, CO 96 km (59 mi) NNE earthquakes near Garfield County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 15 km WSW of Collbran, Colorado
  2. 2.0 14 km NE of Fruita, Colorado
  3. 3.2 34 km W of Delta, Colorado
  4. 1.9 19 km SSE of Orchard Mesa, Colorado
  5. 1.9 34 km W of Delta, Colorado
  6. 1.7 20 km SSW of Orchard Mesa, Colorado
  7. 2.0 15 km ENE of Palisade, Colorado
  8. 2.1 20 km WNW of Delta, Colorado
  9. 2.5 26 km WNW of Delta, Colorado
  10. 1.7 29 km SW of Orchard Mesa, Colorado
  11. 1.5 19 km WSW of Redlands, Colorado
  12. 1.8 27 km W of Delta, Colorado
  13. 1.8 24 km SW of Orchard Mesa, Colorado
  14. 1.5 22 km WNW of Delta, 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.