Mysterious earthquake strikes Baca County, Colorado

A 3.8-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Colorado early Monday morning a mystery to seismologists.

PRETCHET, Colorado – Seismologists have described the earthquake in southeastern Colorado Monday morning as a mystery.

The 3.8-magnitude earthquake was detected at 3:27 am five miles northwest of Pritchett in Baka County.

It was a relatively strong earthquake for our state. Over the past 20 years, only 10 earthquakes have been stronger.

The location was very unusual. Only seven earthquakes have been recorded in that part of the state since 1989.

“I would definitely put this in the now-mysterious category,” said Keren Bogolub, a seismologist with the Colorado Geological Survey.

She said there were no known fault lines in Baka province that could have caused the quake.

“Just because we don’t know there is a fault, doesn’t mean there is no fault. In fact, earthquakes are often a good way to find faults,” she said.

Bogolub said there may not be enough earthquake activity in southeastern Colorado at this point to try to identify or investigate a new fault, but it’s one of the tools they use to better understand Colorado’s geology.

Monday’s earthquake is likely what seismologists call a “man-made” earthquake. These mainly occur when wastewater from oil and gas operations is injected into the ground.

It can also occur due to hydraulic fracturing, also known as hydraulic fracturing. This process uses a liquid to penetrate layers of rock to remove gas from closed pockets, Bogolub said. The pressure created by the water injection is strong enough to cause earthquakes. Fracking also produces wastewater that is injected back into the ground.

“Human-caused earthquakes are usually not caused by the primary fracturing process,” Bogolub said. “More than 90% of it is from wastewater disposal, which can come from fracking or conventional oil and gas operations.”

In this case, Bogolub said, the quake was likely not man-made.

She said Baka County is sandwiched between two areas known for human-caused earthquakes. The Raton Mesa near Trinidad is one of the most seismically active areas in Colorado, and Oklahoma has reported several human-caused earthquakes in recent years.

But Baka County does not have as many oil and gas operations as its neighbors, according to Bogolub. This area has no history of earthquakes in any way.

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Another theory could be plate tectonics. This is when large parts of the earth are moving. The plate that the Colorado sits on isn’t near any other plate boundary, which causes larger earthquakes, Bogolub said, but that part of our plate is cracking.

She said, “That means that board is actually kind of tearing up. I always tell people if you get some real estate in the St. Louis Valley, it could be a good investment because in 10,000 years it might be on the seashore.”

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Baca County is more than 100 miles from the San Luis Valley, but Bogolub said the fault is likely to be the cause of what she calls internal earthquakes.

She said there was recent volcanic activity in New Mexico that could also be explained by intra-plate tectonics, and that could affect a larger area than scientists currently know.

“These types of earthquakes are not particularly well understood,” she said.

Some tremors have been reported in Pritchett and Springfield. Bogolub said a 3.8-magnitude earthquake could cause minor damage to buildings and could cause loose objects to fall off shelves, but so far there were no reports of damage from Monday morning’s quake.

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