The dynamics, appearing after a quantum quench, of a trapped, spin-orbit coupled, dilute atomic gas is studied. The characteristics of the evolution is greatly influenced by the symmetries of the system, and we especially compare evolution for an isotropic Rashba coupling and for an anisotropic spin-orbit coupling. As we make the spin-orbit coupling anisotropic, we break the rotational symmetry and the underlying classical model becomes chaotic; the quantum dynamics is affected accordingly. Within experimentally relevant time scales and parameters, the system thermalizes in a quantum sense. The corresponding equilibration time is found to agree with the Ehrenfest time, i.e., we numerically verify a similar to ln ( (h) over bar (-1)) scaling. Upon thermalization, we find that the equilibrated distributions show examples of quantum scars distinguished by accumulation of atomic density for certain energies. At shorter time scales, we discuss nonadiabatic effects deriving from the spin-orbit-coupled induced Dirac point. In the vicinity of the Dirac point, spin fluctuations are large and, even at short times, a semiclassical analysis fails. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.87.013624