QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

7 km SSW of Stonewall Gap, Colorado

Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 7 km SSW of Stonewall Gap, Colorado, at 6:20 am MST on 28 February 2025 (13:20 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

· 5.0 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Costilla County 39 kmColfax County 65 kmHuerfano County 68 kmTaos County 76 kmAlamosa County 83 kmLas Animas County 94 kmConejos County 99 kmCuster 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
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Costilla County, 39 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 552 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 11 km (7 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 4.3 on 2023-03-10 — about 7,900 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 · 32 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 20 km S of Weston, Colorado · 26 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 37.0866, -105.0659. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Costilla County, CO 39 km (24 mi) WNW earthquakes near Costilla County
Colfax County, NM 65 km (40 mi) SE earthquakes near Colfax County
Huerfano County, CO 68 km (42 mi) N earthquakes near Huerfano County
Taos County, NM 76 km (47 mi) SW earthquakes near Taos County
Alamosa County, CO 83 km (52 mi) NW earthquakes near Alamosa County
Las Animas County, CO 94 km (58 mi) ENE earthquakes near Las Animas 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. 1.6 6 km W of La Veta, Colorado
  2. 1.7 16 km S of Weston, Colorado
  3. 1.5 27 km S of Weston, Colorado
  4. 1.5 24 km S of Weston, Colorado
  5. 1.6 27 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
  6. 1.7 29 km S of Segundo, Colorado
  7. 1.5 32 km WSW of Raton, New Mexico
  8. 2.1 28 km S of Weston, Colorado
  9. 1.6 28 km S of Segundo, Colorado
  10. 1.5 28 km S of Segundo, Colorado
  11. 1.6 5 km WSW of La Veta, Colorado
  12. 1.6 3 km WNW of La Veta, Colorado
  13. 1.5 29 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
  14. 2.2 28 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
  15. 1.7 25 km S 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.