QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Colorado

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Colorado, at 1:06 am MST on 28 November 2019 (08:06 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

· 5.0 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pitkin County 5 kmEagle County 53 kmLake County 54 kmGunnison County 60 kmChaffee County 78 kmSummit County 86 kmDelta County 86 kmGarfield County 91 kmPark County 109 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pitkin County, 5 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2457 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 10 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Snowmass Village, Aspen, Basalt, El Jebel, Carbondale.

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 39.2051, -106.9766. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pitkin County, CO 5 km (3 mi) ENE earthquakes near Pitkin County
Eagle County, CO 53 km (33 mi) NNE earthquakes near Eagle County
Lake County, CO 54 km (34 mi) E earthquakes near Lake County
Gunnison County, CO 60 km (37 mi) S earthquakes near Gunnison County
Chaffee County, CO 78 km (49 mi) SE earthquakes near Chaffee County
Summit County, CO 86 km (53 mi) ENE earthquakes near Summit 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. 2.8 10 km NE of Redstone, Colorado
  2. 2.6 12 km S of Mulford, Colorado
  3. 1.9 6 km WNW of Snowmass Village, Colorado
  4. 1.8 2 km NNW of El Jebel, Colorado
  5. 2.8 9 km E of Woody Creek, Colorado
  6. 2.0 6 km E of Basalt, Colorado
  7. 1.6 6 km E of Basalt, Colorado
  8. 1.5 5 km SSW of Carbondale, Colorado
  9. 2.4 9 km NW of Mount Crested Butte, Colorado
  10. 1.9 10 km SE of Crystal, Colorado
  11. 2.1 3 km NNW of Mount Crested Butte, Colorado
  12. 1.9 10 km NNW of Mount Crested Butte, 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.