Does Colorado have a high seismic risk for strong earthquakes because it is near a plate boundary?

Answer 1

Monitoring earthquakes in Colorado hasn't been going on for long only 140 years, but during that time Colorado has never experienced anything like the devastating 7.0 quake in Haiti.

Since 1870, The Colorado Division of Emergency Management says that geologic studies have detected about 100 active faults in the state. Two of most active faults are the Sangre de Cristo Fault, which is at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Sawatch Fault, which runs along the Sawatch Range.

Since record taking began in the late 1800′s Colorado has recorded more than 400 earthquake tremors with a magnitude of 2.5 or higher. The strongest quake ever recorded in Colorado was November 7, 1882. It's believed to have occurred in the northern Front Range west of Fort Collins and registered a magnitude of 6.5.

While earthquakes are infrequent in Colorado, The Colorado Division of Emergency Management says it's not possible to accurately estimate the timing or location of future earthquakes in Colorado. However, seismologists predict that Colorado will again experience a magnitude 6.5 earthquake at some unknown point in the future.