Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.4ml
Earthquake near Magna, UT
No earthquake was likely felt in Magna in the 24 hours to 12:57 am MST (07:57 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 6 km (3 mi) ENE, at 8:46 am MDT on 17 June 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 28 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Magna
This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 2 km (2 mi) northeast of Magna, UT, at 8:06 am MDT on 18 March 2020 (14:06 UTC), 11 km deep. 76 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2 km NE of Magna, Utah
7 km (5 mi) NW of West Valley City, UT
- When
- 8:06 am MDT on 18 March 2020 ()
- Where
- 2 km (2 mi) northeast of Magna, UT · earthquakes near Magna
- Magnitude
- M 3.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 76 reports · strongest reported intensity VI
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Salt Lake County, 15 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Valley fault, 7 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 2351 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Magna, UT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Magna, UT. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 57 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Magna, 2 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Magna 2 km, intensity III · West Valley City 8 km, intensity III · Kearns 10 km, intensity III · Taylorsville 14 km, intensity III · Salt Lake City 17 km, intensity III · Murray 18 km, intensity III · West Jordan 18 km, intensity III · Millcreek 18 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 2 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 86,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,800× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,700× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.4 about 2 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.1× more
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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.7 on 2020-03-18 — about 2,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.3 Near Salt Lake City, Utah · 24 km E of this epicentre
- 5.0 1 km NE of Magna, Utah · 1 km SSW 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 40.7267, -112.0845. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake County, UT | 15 km (9 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Salt Lake County |
| Davis County, UT | 36 km (22 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Davis County |
| Morgan County, UT | 59 km (37 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Morgan County |
| Weber County, UT | 63 km (39 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Weber County |
| Utah County, UT | 76 km (47 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Utah County |
| Wasatch County, UT | 89 km (56 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Wasatch County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 6 km NE of Magna, Utah
- 2.5 7 km NNW of West Valley City, Utah
- 1.6 6 km NNE of Magna, Utah
- 1.6 3 km NE of Magna, Utah
- 1.9 6 km NE of Magna, Utah
- 2.0 6 km NNE of Magna, Utah
- 2.6 7 km NE of Magna, Utah
- 2.6 6 km NE of Magna, Utah
- 1.6 6 km NNE of Magna, Utah
- 1.6 6 km NE of Magna, Utah
- 1.6 Utah
- 1.5 6 km NE of Magna, Utah
- 2.6 6 km NE of Magna, Utah
- 1.6 7 km NNE of Magna, Utah
- 1.7 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
- 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.