QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Mount Pleasant, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Mount Pleasant in the 24 hours to 4:41 am MST (11:41 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 5 km (3 mi) ENE, at 5:07 pm MDT on 12 August 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mount Pleasant

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east of Mount Pleasant, UT, at 12:10 am MDT on 12 March 2020 (06:10 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 5 km E of Mount Pleasant, Utah

12:10 am MDT, Mar 12, 2020 · · 13 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mount Pleasant Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sanpete County 24 kmUtah County 69 kmCarbon County 71 kmEmery County 83 kmWasatch County 91 kmSevier County 95 kmDuchesne 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
12:10 am MDT on 12 March 2020 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) east of Mount Pleasant, UT · earthquakes near Mount Pleasant
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sanpete County, 24 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Gunnison 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 2437 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Mount Pleasant, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Fairview, Spring City, Moroni, Fountain Green, Ephraim.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 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 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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. 5.0 3 km WSW of Nephi, Utah · 45 km WNW 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 39.5378, -111.3940. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sanpete County, UT 24 km (15 mi) SW earthquakes near Sanpete County
Utah County, UT 69 km (43 mi) NNW earthquakes near Utah County
Carbon County, UT 71 km (44 mi) ENE earthquakes near Carbon County
Emery County, UT 83 km (51 mi) SE earthquakes near Emery County
Wasatch County, UT 91 km (56 mi) NNE earthquakes near Wasatch County
Sevier County, UT 95 km (59 mi) SSW earthquakes near Sevier County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 7 km E of Mount Pleasant, Utah
  2. 1.5 15 km S of Levan, Utah
  3. 2.1 9 km ENE of Fairview, Utah
  4. 1.5 10 km SW of Hiawatha, Utah
  5. 1.5 7 km WSW of Clear Creek, Utah
  6. 2.7 11 km WSW of Spring Glen, Utah
  7. 1.6 17 km WSW of Hiawatha, Utah
  8. 1.6 8 km W of Clear Creek, Utah
  9. 1.5 5 km ENE of Mayfield, Utah
  10. 2.3 19 km ESE of Mount Pleasant, Utah
  11. 1.6 12 km ESE of Spring City, Utah
  12. 2.2 Utah
  13. 1.9 8 km W of Spring Glen, Utah
  14. 1.7 8 km SW of Levan, Utah
  15. 1.7 10 km WNW of Helper, 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.