By Chris Sorensen

Northwest Colorado has been struck by the second earthquake in just over two days.

The first quake occurred at 3:45 a.m. Thursday and was centered 22 miles northwest of Craig in Moffat County. The quake registered 3.9 on the Richter Scale and occurred three miles beneath the surface according the United States Geological Survey. Three people reported feeling the quake.

The second quake occurred Saturday morning just before noon and measured 3.7 on the scale. It was centered one mile west of Rangely in Rio Blanco County and located about 2.5 miles beneath the surface. While damage reports were not immediately available, 18 people had reported feeling the quake by early afternoon.

The earthquake near Rangely is in an area that has experienced induced or human-caused earthquakes in the past. In the 1960s, quakes as large as 4.5 were trigger by fluid injection in the Rangely oil field. Coal mining in the area has also been linked to earthquake activity.

Colorado has experience 23 earthquakes since the start of 2017, ranging from 1.1 to 3.9 on the Richter Scale. Eighteen of those earthquakes occurred over a 10-day period in January. Those quakes were also in northwest Colorado.