QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Rangely, CO

USGS: 4 km NNW of Rangely, Colorado

4:44 pm MST, Dec 12, 2017 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rangely Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rio Blanco County 56 kmUintah County 59 kmMoffat County 74 kmGarfield County 98 kmDaggett County 102 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
4:44 pm MST on 12 December 2017 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) NNW of Rangely, CO · earthquakes near Rangely
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
8 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Rio Blanco County, 56 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3133 days ago

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) NNW of Rangely, CO, at 4:44 pm MST on 12 December 2017 (23:44 UTC). 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× more

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 40.1287, -108.8258. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rio Blanco County, CO 56 km (35 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rio Blanco County
Uintah County, UT 59 km (37 mi) W earthquakes near Uintah County
Moffat County, CO 74 km (46 mi) NE earthquakes near Moffat County
Garfield County, CO 98 km (61 mi) SE earthquakes near Garfield County
Daggett County, UT 102 km (64 mi) NW earthquakes near Daggett County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 4 km NNW of Rangely, Colorado
  2. 1.8 14 km WNW of Bonanza, Utah
  3. 2.0 28 km ESE of Rangely, Colorado
  4. 1.6 39 km NNE of Rangely, Colorado
  5. 3.0 25 km SSW of Rangely, Colorado
  6. 2.1 13 km NE of Dinosaur, 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.