QuakeIndex

mining explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Rock Springs, WY

USGS: 9 km NE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming

11:32 am MDT, May 20, 2019 · · 0.0 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rock Springs Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sweetwater County 16 kmDaggett County 116 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
11:32 am MDT on 20 May 2019 ()
Where
44 km (27 mi) ENE of Rock Springs, WY · earthquakes near Rock Springs
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sweetwater County, 16 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2613 days ago

A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) ENE of Rock Springs, WY, at 11:32 am MDT on 20 May 2019 (17:32 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

USGS catalogues this as mining explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 41.7481, -108.7226. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sweetwater County, WY 16 km (10 mi) SW earthquakes near Sweetwater County
Daggett County, UT 116 km (72 mi) SW earthquakes near Daggett County
Sublette County, WY 150 km (93 mi) NW earthquakes near Sublette 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. 2.9 5 km NNE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  2. 3.1 10 km NNE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  3. 3.0 9 km E of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  4. 3.2 12 km ENE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  5. 3.1 13 km NNE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  6. 2.8 12 km ENE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  7. 3.0 14 km E of Sweeney Ranch, Wyoming
  8. 3.3 11 km ESE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  9. 3.1 8 km NE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  10. 3.0 14 km ENE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  11. 3.2 17 km S of Point of Rocks, Wyoming
  12. 2.7 17 km E of Sweeney Ranch, Wyoming

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.