QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Trinidad, CO

No earthquake was likely felt in Trinidad in the 24 hours to 2:13 pm MST (21:13 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 2.0 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) west-southwest of Trinidad, CO, at 3:09 pm MDT on 5 May 2019 (21:09 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 12 km SW of Weston, Colorado

3:09 pm MDT, May 5, 2019 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Costilla County 52 kmColfax County 54 kmHuerfano County 72 kmTaos County 81 kmLas Animas County 85 kmAlamosa County 96 kmConejos County 112 kmMora County 117 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
3:09 pm MDT on 5 May 2019 ()
Where
41 km (25 mi) west-southwest of Trinidad, CO · earthquakes near Trinidad
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Costilla County, 52 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2666 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Trinidad, 41 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 4.2 on 2016-12-23 — about 2,000 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 · 21 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 20 km S of Weston, Colorado · 13 km SE 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 37.0364, -104.9311. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Costilla County, CO 52 km (32 mi) WNW earthquakes near Costilla County
Colfax County, NM 54 km (33 mi) SSE earthquakes near Colfax County
Huerfano County, CO 72 km (45 mi) N earthquakes near Huerfano County
Taos County, NM 81 km (50 mi) SW earthquakes near Taos County
Las Animas County, CO 85 km (53 mi) ENE earthquakes near Las Animas County
Alamosa County, CO 96 km (60 mi) NW earthquakes near Alamosa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 5 km SSW of Weston, Colorado
  2. 1.7 10 km WNW of El Moro, Colorado
  3. 1.7 11 km WNW of El Moro, Colorado
  4. 2.7 12 km WNW of El Moro, Colorado
  5. 2.2 11 km WNW of El Moro, Colorado
  6. 1.6 11 km NW of El Moro, Colorado
  7. 2.7 30 km NNE of Ute Park, New Mexico
  8. 1.7 14 km S of Weston, Colorado
  9. 1.7 15 km S of Weston, Colorado
  10. 2.0 12 km SW of Weston, Colorado
  11. 1.7 16 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  12. 2.1 16 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  13. 2.2 16 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  14. 2.9 15 km S of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  15. 2.2 14 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, 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.