QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Raton, NM

No earthquake was likely felt in Raton in the 24 hours to 5:29 am MST (12:29 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 53 km (33 mi) WNW, at 3:34 am MST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Raton

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) west of Raton, NM, at 12:25 am MDT on 18 September 2025 (06:25 UTC), 5.3 km deep.

USGS: 27 km SSW of Sequndo, Colorado

12:25 am MDT, Sep 18, 2025 · · 5.3 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Colfax County 33 kmCostilla County 72 kmLas Animas County 82 kmTaos County 83 kmHuerfano County 91 kmMora County 101 kmAlamosa County 117 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
12:25 am MDT on 18 September 2025 ()
Where
31 km (19 mi) west of Raton, NM · earthquakes near Raton
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
5.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Colfax County, 33 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 340 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 73 km (45 mi) from the epicentre. In Raton, 31 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Raton 31 km, intensity III · Trinidad 41 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2023-03-10 — about 89 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 · 22 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 20 km S of Weston, Colorado · 8 km NNW 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 36.8822, -104.7877. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Colfax County, NM 33 km (20 mi) SSE earthquakes near Colfax County
Costilla County, CO 72 km (45 mi) NW earthquakes near Costilla County
Las Animas County, CO 82 km (51 mi) NE earthquakes near Las Animas County
Taos County, NM 83 km (52 mi) WSW earthquakes near Taos County
Huerfano County, CO 91 km (56 mi) N earthquakes near Huerfano County
Mora County, NM 101 km (63 mi) S earthquakes near Mora County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 17 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  2. 1.5 31 km NNE of Cimarron, New Mexico
  3. 1.5 30 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
  4. 2.0 32 km WSW of Raton, New Mexico
  5. 2.2 34 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
  6. 1.7 32 km N of Cimarron, New Mexico
  7. 2.8 32 km SSW of Segundo, Colorado
  8. 2.0 34 km S of Weston, Colorado
  9. 3.8 32 km WSW of Raton, New Mexico
  10. 1.8 32 km N of Cimarron, New Mexico
  11. 1.5 32 km N of Cimarron, New Mexico
  12. 1.8 17 km SW of Weston, Colorado
  13. 2.8 14 km SSE of Stonewall Gap, Colorado
  14. 1.5 23 km NNE of Cimarron, New Mexico
  15. 2.4 15 km S of Stonewall Gap, 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.