Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Walsenburg, CO
No earthquake was likely felt in Walsenburg in the 24 hours to 7:45 am MST (14:45 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 63 km (39 mi) SSW, at 3:34 am MST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Walsenburg
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) southeast of Walsenburg, CO, at 7:57 am MDT on 29 April 2021 (13:57 UTC), 5.3 km deep.
USGS: 8 km NNW of Lynn, Colorado
86 km (53 mi) S of Pueblo, CO
- When
- 7:57 am MDT on 29 April 2021 ()
- Where
- 17 km (11 mi) southeast of Walsenburg, CO · earthquakes near Walsenburg
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Huerfano County, 33 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1953 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Walsenburg, CO
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Walsenburg, CO. No account or email needed.
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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Walsenburg, 17 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 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 4.0 on 2017-12-30 — about 4,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.3 6 km S of Valdez, Colorado · 49 km S 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 37.4991, -104.6684. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huerfano County, CO | 33 km (21 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Huerfano County |
| Las Animas County, CO | 59 km (36 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Las Animas County |
| Costilla County, CO | 72 km (44 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Costilla County |
| Pueblo County, CO | 76 km (47 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Pueblo County |
| Custer County, CO | 91 km (57 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Custer County |
| Otero County, CO | 94 km (58 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Otero County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 8 km NNE of Segundo, Colorado
- 1.9 7 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 2.0 Colorado
- 3.9 5 km N of Sequndo, Colorado
- 3.5 8 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 3.0 11 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 1.8 8 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 1.8 8 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 2.5 7 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 2.5 7 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 1.8 9 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 4.3 6 km NNE of Segundo, Colorado
- 1.8 7 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 1.8 8 km N of Segundo, Colorado
- 2.0 8 km N of Segundo, 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.