QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Provo, UT

USGS: 7 km W of Independence, Utah

26 km (16 mi) ENE of Provo, UT

5:09 am MST, Nov 21, 2019 · · 10 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Provo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Wasatch County 16 kmUtah County 34 kmSalt Lake County 64 kmSummit County 71 kmDuchesne County 78 kmMorgan County 90 kmCarbon County 95 kmSanpete County 105 kmDavis County 109 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
5:09 am MST on 21 November 2019 ()
Where
28 km (17 mi) ENE of Provo, UT · earthquakes near Provo
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Wasatch County, 16 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Strawberry fault, 11 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 2507 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) ENE of Provo, UT, at 5:09 am MST on 21 November 2019 (12:09 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Daniel, Heber City, Midway, Springville, Mapleton, Orem.

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 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 40.2987, -111.3443. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Wasatch County, UT 16 km (10 mi) ENE earthquakes near Wasatch County
Utah County, UT 34 km (21 mi) SW earthquakes near Utah County
Salt Lake County, UT 64 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Salt Lake County
Summit County, UT 71 km (44 mi) NNE earthquakes near Summit County
Duchesne County, UT 78 km (48 mi) E earthquakes near Duchesne County
Morgan County, UT 90 km (56 mi) NNW earthquakes near Morgan County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 25 km SSE of Independence, Utah
  2. 2.2 25 km SSE of Independence, Utah
  3. 1.5 24 km SSE of Independence, Utah
  4. 2.0 25 km SSE of Independence, Utah
  5. 1.8 6 km ESE of Daniel, Utah
  6. 2.8 6 km WNW of Independence, Utah
  7. 1.9 9 km W of Independence, Utah
  8. 1.6 7 km SSE of Wallsburg, Utah
  9. 2.3 4 km WNW of Independence, Utah
  10. 2.3 6 km SSW of Wallsburg, Utah
  11. 3.9 4 km WNW of Independence, Utah
  12. 1.6 25 km NW of Tabiona, Utah
  13. 1.8 2 km ENE of Saratoga Springs, Utah
  14. 1.6 5 km SSE of Hideout, Utah
  15. 2.1 5 km SE of Snowbird, 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.