Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Rangely, CO
No earthquake was likely felt in Rangely in the 24 hours to 5:45 am MST (12:45 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 5 km (3 mi) NNW, at 5:14 pm MDT on 23 March 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Rangely
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) south-southwest of Rangely, CO, at 6:42 pm MDT on 18 April 2020 (00:42 UTC), 4.9 km deep.
USGS: 25 km SSW of Rangely, Colorado
- When
- 6:42 pm MDT on 18 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) south-southwest of Rangely, CO · earthquakes near Rangely
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Uintah County, 57 km WNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2317 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Rangely, 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 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 37 km (23 mi) from the epicentre. In Rangely, 26 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.
Likely felt in: Rangely 26 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 990 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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 340,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 15,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 990 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 4.1 on 2018-08-24 — about 43 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.4 46 km NW of Parachute, Colorado · 49 km E 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 39.8752, -108.9285. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uintah County, UT | 57 km (36 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Uintah County |
| Rio Blanco County, CO | 63 km (39 mi) | E | earthquakes near Rio Blanco County |
| Garfield County, CO | 92 km (57 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Garfield County |
| Moffat County, CO | 102 km (63 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Moffat County |
| Mesa County, CO | 103 km (64 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Mesa County |
| Grand County, UT | 114 km (71 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Grand County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
7 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 4 km NNW of Rangely, Colorado
- 2.1 28 km SSW of Bonanza, Utah
- 1.7 39 km S of Bonanza, Utah
- 1.8 14 km WNW of Bonanza, Utah
- 2.0 28 km ESE of Rangely, Colorado
- 2.5 Colorado
- 2.0 37 km SSW of Bonanza, Utah
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.