QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Salt Lake City, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Salt Lake City in the 24 hours to 8:57 am MST (15:57 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 13 km (8 mi) WSW, at 8:46 am MDT on 17 June 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 28 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salt Lake City

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) west of Salt Lake City, UT, at 11:17 pm MDT on 31 March 2020 (05:17 UTC), 4.8 km deep.

USGS: Utah

in Salt Lake City, UT

11:17 pm MDT, Mar 31, 2020 · · 4.8 km deep · released about 8.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salt Lake City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Salt Lake County 11 kmDavis County 36 kmMorgan County 50 kmWeber County 57 kmUtah County 76 kmWasatch County 84 kmSummit County 86 kmTooele County 102 kmCache County 110 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
11:17 pm MDT on 31 March 2020 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) west of Salt Lake City, UT · earthquakes near Salt Lake City
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Salt Lake County, 11 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
West Valley fault, 2 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 2417 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Salt Lake City, 7 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.

Likely felt in: Salt Lake City 7 km, intensity II · West Valley City 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.1 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 1,300,000× 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 8.1 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 5.7 on 2020-03-18 — about 1,300,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.3 Near Salt Lake City, Utah · 16 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 1 km NE of Magna, Utah · 11 km WSW 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 40.7605, -111.9762. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Salt Lake County, UT 11 km (7 mi) SSE earthquakes near Salt Lake County
Davis County, UT 36 km (22 mi) NNW earthquakes near Davis County
Morgan County, UT 50 km (31 mi) NE earthquakes near Morgan County
Weber County, UT 57 km (36 mi) N earthquakes near Weber County
Utah County, UT 76 km (47 mi) SSE earthquakes near Utah County
Wasatch County, UT 84 km (52 mi) SE 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.

  1. 1.6 6 km NNE of Magna, Utah
  2. 1.5 6 km NNE of Magna, Utah
  3. 1.9 6 km NNE of Magna, Utah
  4. 2.4 6 km NNE of Magna, Utah
  5. 1.8 4 km ENE of Magna, Utah
  6. 1.8 5 km NE of Magna, Utah
  7. 1.7 1 km ENE of Magna, Utah
  8. 1.5 6 km SSW of Bingham Canyon, Utah
  9. 1.5 4 km NE of Magna, Utah
  10. 1.9 4 km NE of Magna, Utah
  11. 1.6 2 km E of Magna, Utah
  12. 2.3 6 km NNW of West Valley City, Utah
  13. 1.8 2 km NE of Magna, Utah
  14. 2.1 7 km N of Magna, Utah
  15. 1.6 7 km N of Magna, 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.