QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Nephi, UT

USGS: 11 km W of Nephi, Utah

12:10 am MST, Dec 25, 2018 · · 1.9 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Nephi Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sanpete County 49 kmUtah County 54 kmJuab County 70 kmWasatch County 99 kmSevier County 106 kmSalt Lake County 109 kmCarbon County 118 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
12:10 am MST on 25 December 2018 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) W of Nephi, UT · earthquakes near Nephi
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
1.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sanpete County, 49 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Wasatch fault, 13 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 2837 days ago

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) W of Nephi, UT, at 12:10 am MST on 25 December 2018 (07:10 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Mona, Fountain Green.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 · 8 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 1 km SSW of Mount Nebo, Utah · 27 km N 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 39.6908, -111.9695. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sanpete County, UT 49 km (30 mi) SE earthquakes near Sanpete County
Utah County, UT 54 km (34 mi) NNE earthquakes near Utah County
Juab County, UT 70 km (44 mi) W earthquakes near Juab County
Wasatch County, UT 99 km (62 mi) NE earthquakes near Wasatch County
Sevier County, UT 106 km (66 mi) S earthquakes near Sevier County
Salt Lake County, UT 109 km (68 mi) N earthquakes near Salt Lake County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 19 km WNW of Levan, Utah
  2. 2.5 20 km WNW of Levan, Utah
  3. 1.7 19 km WNW of Levan, Utah
  4. 2.5 20 km WNW of Levan, Utah
  5. 1.9 10 km NW of Fairview, Utah
  6. 1.6 19 km NNW of Fayette, Utah
  7. 2.1 12 km NW of Fayette, Utah
  8. 1.7 Utah
  9. 1.7 3 km E of Leamington, Utah
  10. 2.0 14 km N of Scipio, Utah
  11. 1.9 3 km E of Leamington, Utah
  12. 1.8 1 km WSW of Payson, Utah
  13. 2.4 0 km WSW of Payson, Utah
  14. 1.9 1 km W of Payson, Utah
  15. 1.5 6 km WSW of Fairview, 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.