
Did You Feel An Earthquake Sunday Along Colorado-Wyoming Border?
Sunday around 9:48 AM there was an earthquake roughly 4 miles beneath earth's surface, felt by residents along the tri-state border of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
The epicenter of the quake was 8-10 miles east of Brown's Park National Wildlife Refuge, in western Colorado. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it was a 2.7 magnitude quake, which normally isn't felt beyond a few miles from where it occurred, so the likelihood of feeling it anywhere in our area is slim to none. In fact, it's none.
But it's not the first earthquake to occur within the State of Colorado, in fact, they date back to the year 1870, believe it or not.
Shockingly, the largest ever to occur in our state happened right here in Northern Colorado, all the way back in the year 1882. The exact location of the epicenter is technically unknown, but most data puts it somewhere around Longmont or Berthoud, with the effects felt across five states in the region.
The Colorado Geological Survey nicknamed that event "The Big One" as it was a Magnitude 6.6 quake - the largest ever to hit the state.
The area affected Sunday was likely part of the Intermountain Seismic Belt, a fault line that expands across the west and where smaller earthquakes frequently occur. While not many of them cause any significant damage, seismologists are quick to point out that even smaller earthquakes serve as good reminders to prepare for larger events, pointing out "The Big One" of 1882 as a prime example.
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