QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

56 km SE of Scenic, Arizona

Yes. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 56 km SE of Scenic, Arizona, at 10:01 am MST on 14 May 2023 (17:01 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

· 5.0 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mohave County 84 kmWashington County 90 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mohave County, 84 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Washington fault, 5 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1209 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.4 on 2022-09-19 — about 500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 36.4553, -113.5342. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mohave County, AZ 84 km (52 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mohave County
Washington County, UT 90 km (56 mi) N earthquakes near Washington County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.1 35 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  2. 1.8 12 km ESE of Scenic, Arizona
  3. 1.6 19 km E of Littlefield, Arizona
  4. 2.2 33 km SSE of Bunkerville, Nevada
  5. 1.5 29 km SSE of Scenic, Arizona
  6. 2.3 31 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  7. 3.4 31 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  8. 2.3 31 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  9. 1.9 31 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  10. 1.7 32 km SSE of Bunkerville, Nevada
  11. 3.8 31 km SSE of Bunkerville, Nevada
  12. 2.5 30 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  13. 2.4 31 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  14. 1.5 37 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  15. 2.9 30 km S of Scenic, Arizona

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.