A map provided by the USGS shows the epicenter of the quake below Darrell Johnston's alfalfa field near Dacono.
DACONO, Colo. — A Colorado farmer found himself at the epicenter of Friday’s 2.9 magnitude earthquake near Dacono.
Darrell Johnston says he was just waking up, when his house started to shake.
That routine was interrupted early Friday morning.
“It just made two big booms, and it shook the house, and I thought ‘uh oh, something exploded,’” he said.
Johnston ran outside, looking for signs of an explosion from a nearby oil well.
“I was looking for fire, I was looking for smoke, and then the neighbor to the east calls me and he goes ‘did you feel that?’” Johnston said.
Then came the call that brought the surprise even closer to home. The epicenter of the 2.9 magnitude earthquake that rattled parts of Weld County landed just a few hundred feet from Johnston’s home.
“My buddy calls me back and he goes ‘the map shows that’s right over your house,’” Johnston laughed.
Johnston would later learn the epicenter of the quake was miles beneath his alfalfa field. Friends didn’t miss the opportunity to give him a hard time.
“They’re like ‘did you sit in the wrong pew at church? Or did you not go to church maybe?’,” he joked.
Nearby resident James Lee also felt the tremor.
“The whole house shook for two seconds, and I was like what the heck is going on?” Lee said. “And this is the extent of the damage — my children’s toys fell over.”
Johnston said he didn’t find any damage either.
In fact, the shaking wasn’t enough to wake his wife Cindy, who slept through the whole thing.
“There’s not too many people that can say they slept through an earthquake, but she didn’t know about it until she got up,” Johnston said.
Though the earthquake didn’t cause any damage, Johnston said it’s a moment he won’t forget, especially given the date.
“I’ll always say wait a minute, did that have anything to do with Friday the 13th?” he said. “This is one for the books, for sure.”