QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Beaver Dam, AZ

USGS: 3 km ENE of Beaver Dam, Arizona

34 km (21 mi) WSW of St. George, UT · 143 km (89 mi) ENE of Las Vegas, NV

9:00 am MST, Sep 14, 2018 · · 11 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Beaver Dam Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Washington County 53 kmLincoln County 117 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
9:00 am MST on 14 September 2018 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) ENE of Beaver Dam, AZ · earthquakes near Beaver Dam
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Washington County, 53 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2937 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) ENE of Beaver Dam, AZ, at 9:00 am MST on 14 September 2018 (16:00 UTC). 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Scenic, Mesquite, Bunkerville.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.9 3 km SSE of Washington, Utah · 42 km ENE 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 36.9135, -113.9018. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Washington County, UT 53 km (33 mi) NE earthquakes near Washington County
Lincoln County, NV 117 km (73 mi) NW earthquakes near Lincoln County
Iron County, UT 123 km (76 mi) NNE earthquakes near Iron County
Clark County, NV 126 km (78 mi) SW earthquakes near Clark County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 21 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  2. 1.9 4 km N of Beaver Dam, Arizona
  3. 1.7 17 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  4. 2.3 16 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  5. 2.0 17 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  6. 2.1 17 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  7. 2.8 16 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  8. 1.9 27 km S of Saint George, Utah
  9. 1.8 35 km S of Scenic, Arizona
  10. 1.6 Arizona
  11. 1.6 16 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  12. 2.2 17 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  13. 1.8 15 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  14. 1.6 9 km S of Saint George, Utah
  15. 1.7 3 km NE of Beaver Dam, 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.