By Chris Sorensen

Two small earthquakes have shaken parts of Colorado since last Sunday according to the United States Geological Survey.

The first occurred along the Colorado-Utah border, centered three miles north of Parachute or 50 miles south of Grand Junction. It registered as magnitude 2.2 on the Richter Scale, and occurred two miles beneath the surface just after 2:30 Sunday morning.

The USGS says the Paradox Basin, located within the Colorado Plateau, has a low rate of seismicity, and earthquakes recorded in the area generally measure less than 2 on the Richter Scale. In 1984, there were two quakes, measuring 3 or above which are believed to have been triggered by mining activity. A 4.4 earthquake occurred in 2000, and was caused by brine injection into wells.

A quake measuring 1.8 occurred northeast of Greeley Friday afternoon. It was located five miles beneath the surface, and struck at 1:37 p.m.

Western Colorado experienced 18 earthquakes over a ten-day period in January, 17 of which were clustered in Pitkin and Gunnison counties.