A 3.1-magnitude earthquake hits southern Colorado, the largest in more than a year

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According to the United States Geological Survey, a noticeable earthquake occurred at 11:36 pm on the night of January 31, shaking the area around Trinidad.

The magnitude 3.1 quake occurred about 3 miles west of El Morro, Colorado and about 4 miles north of Trinidad at a depth of about four miles. This was the second earthquake to occur in Colorado this calendar year, the other was weaker with a magnitude of 2.6 on the Richter scale and occurred on January 6 in the Glenwood Springs area.

Last year, 84 earthquakes occurred in Colorado, although most of them were of magnitude less than 2.0. One 3.0-magnitude earthquake struck, but no earthquake has crossed that threshold since August 2021, when a 3.7-magnitude earthquake hit the Pritchet district.

Colorado’s largest earthquakes in recent decades include a 5.4-magnitude earthquake near Parachute (1973) and a 5.3-magnitude earthquake near Trinidad (2011).

While last night’s earthquake was the strongest felt in Colorado in more than a year, earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 to 5.4 rarely cause serious damage. Despite the feel of it, the end result tends to be a little more than that.

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