by David J. Santisteven
LAS ANIMAS COUNTY — The sixth earthquake to hit the Trinidad & Las Animas County Area since January 1, 2018 hit last weekend on Saturday February 24th, the 3.6 quake happened around 11:51 pm MST near county roads 35 and 41.7 in Las Animas County near Sarcillo Canyon northeast of Weston, Colorado right near the Spanish Peaks Wildlife area according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Golden, Colorado.
The center of last weekend’s earthquake was 19 miles west of Trinidad, Colorado, according to media reports only four residents reported feeling the effects of the 3.6 trembler. No damage has been reported from this most recent quake
Quakes over the last few weeks have been centered near Raton, New Mexico (2), Cimarron, New Mexico (2), Walsenburg, Colorado (3), and Trinidad/Weston Colorado (4). The quakes in Raton measured 2.7 and 2.5 magnitude, the ones near Walsenburg were of 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7 magnitude. The four quakes near Trinidad were measured 2.1, 2.5, 3.0 and 3.6 in the last 30 days.
Trinidad and Las Animas County has registered 18 quakes in the year including one of 4.0 in magnitude. All the quakes have been between 1 km to 5 km in depth.
Small quakes are increasingly common in southeastern Colorado and northern New Mexico, with 33 recorded since Jan 1, 2016.
