Earthquake near Colorado City, AZ

USGS: 1 km N of Cane Beds, Arizona

62 km (38 mi) ESE of St. George, UT

9:18 am MST, Jan 20, 2020 · 2020-01-20 16:18 UTC · 18 km deep · released about 250 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Colorado City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 9:18 am MST on 20 January 2020 (2020-01-20 16:18 UTC)
Where: 8 km (5 mi) ESE of Colorado City, AZ · earthquakes near Colorado City
Magnitude: M 2.6 (ml)
Depth: 18 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Washington County, 62 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault: Sevier/Toroweap fault, 16 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2368 days ago · we first saw it 2368 days ago

A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) ESE of Colorado City, AZ, at 9:18 am MST on 20 January 2020 (16:18 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: Centennial Park, Hildale.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 250 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.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 61,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 43,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.8× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.6 about 250 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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 36.9632, -112.8960. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Washington County, UT	62 km (39 mi)	WNW	earthquakes near Washington County
Kane County, UT	102 km (63 mi)	ENE	earthquakes near Kane County
Iron County, UT	111 km (69 mi)	NNW	earthquakes near Iron County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.6 14 km S of Centennial Park, Arizona 23:36 UTC
2.1 22 km SE of Kanarraville, Utah 03:42 UTC
3.6 9 km E of Springdale, Utah 22:36 UTC
2.3 17 km S of Centennial Park, Arizona 12:05 UTC
1.7 13 km SSW of Cane Beds, Arizona 00:02 UTC
1.9 3 km NE of Hildale, Utah 22:38 UTC
1.9 14 km E of Fredonia, Arizona 20:36 UTC
1.7 11 km ENE of Hildale, Utah 01:26 UTC
1.7 12 km SSE of Fredonia, Arizona 20:44 UTC
2.1 8 km E of Kaibab, Arizona 07:18 UTC
2.7 10 km N of Springdale, Utah 02:06 UTC
1.6 10 km SSW of Kaibab, Arizona 21:05 UTC
1.8 5 km N of Hildale, Utah 11:47 UTC
2.1 16 km NE of Hildale, Utah 17:05 UTC
1.7 21 km SE of Fredonia, Arizona 03:08 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 03:27 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

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