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Shale, rattle, and roll

Brief by Central Staff

Geology – September 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine

The earth has trembled again in Central Colorado — pretty close to the center of the state at 11:37 p.m. on July 25.

Charlie Green, our Texas Creek subscriber who follows these matters closely, said it probably awakened him that evening.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the tremor came from Echo Canyon, about half a mile north of the Arkansas River, about five miles north of Charlie’s place, and it originated three miles below the surface.

It registered 2.6 on the Richter scale, making it almost imperceptible. Last January, there was another small tremor in the same general area.

Charlie wrote, “There is no recorded fault line near Echo. But this is heavily faulted country and there could be an unmapped fault in that valley. That area is nearly inaccessible by vehicle.” But, he noted, “There are three ancient (and inactive — until now) known faults almost surrounding our place, all coming within 1 to 5 miles of us. Which wasn’t important a year ago!”