Intensity and Impact of Magnitude 5.3 COLORADO Earthquake, 2011 August 23

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a magnitude 5.3 quake hit at 11:46 p.m. MDT Monday about nine miles southwest of Trinidad, or 180 miles south of Denver. The quake was felt in a relatively large area of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. A 4.6 quake was felt in the same area at 5:30 p.m., and a magnitude 3.0 quake was recorded about 9 p.m. During I published this post seven aftershocks were recorded so far.

A few homes were damaged and there were rockslides on Colorado Highway 12 and Interstate 25, but both highways remained open, Monday's earthquake damaged chimneys, cracked walls and knocked items off shelves, but there were no injuries. It  shaked everything but had no power loss.

Seismic details are as follows:

Location : 37.137°N, 104.671°W

Depth : 4.9 km (3.0 miles)

Region : COLORADO 

Distances: 5 km (3 miles) W (259°) from Cokedale, CO

13 km (8 miles) W (279°) from Starkville, CO

15 km (9 miles) WSW (255°) from Trinidad, CO

126 km (78 miles) S (182°) from Pueblo, CO

289 km (180 miles) S (175°) from Denver, CO

Subduction Zones-Purple, Ridges-Red and Transform Faults Green

Location Uncertainty : horizontal +/- 12.9 km (8.0 miles); depth +/- 2.9 km (1.8 miles)

Parameters : NST=314, Nph=315, Dmin=23.4 km, Rmss=1.34 sec, Gp= 14°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=8

Cities Exposed to Quake :

MMI	City	Population
IV	Trinidad	9000
IV	Raton	7000
III	Canon City	16000
III	Alamosa	9000
III	Taos	5000
III	Walsenburg	4000
II	Pueblo	104000
II	Santa Fe	69000
II	Pueblo West	26000
II	Las Vegas	14000
II	Los Alamos	12000