Earthquake near Colorado City, AZ

No earthquake was likely felt in Colorado City in the 24 hours to 4:28 am MST (11:28 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 14 km (9 mi) NE, at 7:17 pm MST on 12 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Colorado City

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) east-southeast of Colorado City, AZ, at 10:29 pm MST on 15 September 2020 (05:29 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 1 km N of Cane Beds, Arizona

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

10:29 pm MST, Sep 15, 2020 · 2020-09-16 05:29 UTC · 17 km deep · released about 15 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: 10:29 pm MST on 15 September 2020 (2020-09-16 05:29 UTC)
Where: 8 km (5 mi) east-southeast of Colorado City, AZ · earthquakes near Colorado City
Magnitude: M 1.8 (ml)
Depth: 17 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Washington County, 62 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault: Sevier/Toroweap fault, 15 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2249 days ago · we first saw it 2249 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 Colorado City, 8 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: Centennial Park, Hildale.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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:

5.6 21 km SE of Fredonia, Arizona · 50 km ESE of this epicentre Jul 21, 1959

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

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

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

1.9 6 km ENE of Kanab, Utah 09:50 UTC
1.8 2 km ESE of Colorado City, Arizona 20:29 UTC
2.1 2 km ESE of Colorado City, Arizona 16:11 UTC
1.6 2 km ESE of Hildale, Utah 12:17 UTC
3.8 3 km ESE of Colorado City, Arizona 11:39 UTC
2.3 10 km SW of Centennial Park, Arizona 13:39 UTC
1.8 6 km SE of Fredonia, Arizona 11:28 UTC
2.1 5 km NNW of Hildale, Utah 03:57 UTC
2.1 1 km N of Cane Beds, Arizona 05:04 UTC
2.2 12 km E of Fredonia, Arizona 07:46 UTC
2.0 13 km E of Fredonia, Arizona 06:20 UTC
2.0 12 km ENE of Springdale, Utah 07:49 UTC
1.9 17 km ESE of Fredonia, Arizona 17:32 UTC
1.8 9 km ENE of Hildale, Utah 09:28 UTC
1.6 20 km S of Centennial Park, Arizona 18:01 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 11:28 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.