QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7ml

Earthquake near Spanish Fork, UT

USGS: 9 km SSE of Eureka, Utah

48 km (30 mi) S of Eagle Mountain, UT · 100 km (62 mi) S of Salt Lake City, UT

12:04 pm MDT, Oct 16, 2018 · · 6.5 km deep · released about 320 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Utah County 43 kmJuab County 65 kmSanpete County 70 kmSalt Lake County 88 kmWasatch County 92 kmTooele County 111 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
12:04 pm MDT on 16 October 2018 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) SW of Spanish Fork, UT · earthquakes near Spanish Fork
Magnitude
M 2.7 (ml)
Depth
6.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Utah County, 43 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Wasatch fault, 23 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 2842 days ago

A magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) SW of Spanish Fork, UT, at 12:04 pm MDT on 16 October 2018 (18:04 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Mona, Genola, Santaquin, Nephi.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 320 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 48,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 34,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 320 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 3 km WSW of Nephi, Utah · 26 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 1 km SSW of Mount Nebo, Utah · 10 km NE of this epicentre

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 39.8807, -112.0618. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Utah County, UT 43 km (27 mi) NE earthquakes near Utah County
Juab County, UT 65 km (40 mi) WSW earthquakes near Juab County
Sanpete County, UT 70 km (44 mi) SE earthquakes near Sanpete County
Salt Lake County, UT 88 km (55 mi) N earthquakes near Salt Lake County
Wasatch County, UT 92 km (57 mi) ENE earthquakes near Wasatch County
Tooele County, UT 111 km (69 mi) NW earthquakes near Tooele County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 4 km N of Nephi, Utah
  2. 1.8 11 km WSW of Mona, Utah
  3. 1.8 14 km WSW of Levan, Utah
  4. 1.9 13 km WSW of Levan, Utah
  5. 1.9 12 km WSW of Levan, Utah
  6. 2.1 15 km NE of Leamington, Utah
  7. 2.2 9 km WSW of Mona, Utah
  8. 2.1 9 km WSW of Levan, Utah
  9. 1.6 17 km WNW of Levan, Utah
  10. 1.7 6 km SSW of Rocky Ridge, Utah
  11. 1.6 12 km WSW of Levan, Utah
  12. 1.7 8 km SW of Levan, Utah
  13. 1.7 15 km SW of Levan, Utah
  14. 1.6 13 km W of Mona, Utah
  15. 1.5 9 km W of Levan, Utah

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.