Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Trinidad, CO
No earthquake was likely felt in Trinidad in the 24 hours to 9:53 am MST (16:53 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) west-southwest of Trinidad, CO, at 10:58 pm MST on 9 December 2019 (05:58 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 16 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
- When
- 10:58 pm MST on 9 December 2019 ()
- Where
- 48 km (30 mi) west-southwest of Trinidad, CO · earthquakes near Trinidad
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Costilla County, 49 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2443 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Trinidad, CO
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Trinidad, 48 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.2 on 2016-12-23 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.3 6 km S of Valdez, Colorado · 27 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.0 20 km S of Weston, Colorado · 16 km ESE 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 37.0061, -104.9996. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costilla County, CO | 49 km (30 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Costilla County |
| Colfax County, NM | 54 km (34 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Colfax County |
| Taos County, NM | 74 km (46 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Taos County |
| Huerfano County, CO | 76 km (47 mi) | N | earthquakes near Huerfano County |
| Las Animas County, CO | 92 km (57 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Las Animas County |
| Alamosa County, CO | 94 km (58 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Alamosa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 14 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 2.5 15 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
- 1.6 14 km SW of Aguilar, Colorado
- 3.1 32 km S of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
- 2.3 15 km W of Aguilar, Colorado
- 2.9 12 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
- 1.7 15 km W of Aguilar, Colorado
- 2.6 27 km S of Weston, Colorado
- 2.7 27 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
- 2.3 15 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
- 1.9 13 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
- 1.6 15 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
- 1.5 13 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
- 2.7 13 km SSW of Weston, Colorado
- 3.0 22 km SSW 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.