Minor Earthquakes Shake Around the U.S.

Seismic activity in the United States has been busy this past week--July 9-16--with small earthquakes producing minor shaking in the usual places such as California, Montana, Nevada, Arkansas, along the New Madrid seismic zone and in Washington state. A few other states that aren't well-known for quakes felt some minor rumbling. Small quakes were registered by the United States Geological Survey in Texas, Colorado and Maine.

Texas

A 2.5-magnitude temblor struck western Texas on Thursday, July 14 at 5:29 a.m. local time. A quake of this size was likely not to have been felt, but it did indeed happen. This quake had an epicenter of about 15 miles northeast of Snyder and was registered at a depth of three miles.

Colorado

Another 2.5 earthquake struck in the western state of Colorado near Steamboat Springs on Saturday, July 16 at 3:46 a.m. local time. The epicenter was about 12 miles west-southwest of Steamboat Springs and had a depth of 3.1 miles.

Maine

The USGS registered a very small earthquake in Maine on July 13 at 9:55 p.m. local time. This quake, which was registered as 1.5 in magnitude, had a depth of 4.1 miles and was centered about six miles northeast of Bucksport.

In other states, a 3.3 magnitude quake struck the San Francisco Bay area in the early morning on Saturday, July 16. A 3.2 quake rattled near Darrington, Washington on Friday July 15 while a 3.3 magnitude shaker struck in western Montana on July 12 about nine miles from Dillon.

A larger quake that registered 4.1 in magnitude struck off the coast of Oregon Saturday, July 9 while a smaller, 3.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern California on July 14. A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck southern California about 10 miles west-northwest of Ocotillo on July 10.

Earthquakes are unpredictable and as evidenced by small quakes this past week in Texas, Colorado and Maine. It remains to be seen what the next week will bring.