QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near Beaver, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Beaver in the 24 hours to 11:27 pm MST (06:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 10 km (6 mi) ESE, at 6:22 pm MST on 11 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Beaver

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) southeast of Beaver, UT, at 5:52 am MDT on 3 October 2020 (11:52 UTC), 8.0 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 15 km WSW of Circleville, Utah

5:52 am MDT, Oct 3, 2020 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 220 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Piute County 36 kmBeaver County 77 kmIron County 81 kmSevier County 89 kmGarfield County 90 kmKane County 106 kmMillard County 114 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
5:52 am MDT on 3 October 2020 ()
Where
28 km (17 mi) southeast of Beaver, UT · earthquakes near Beaver
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Piute County, 36 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Beaver Basin faults, 21 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 2161 days ago

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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Beaver, 28 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 220 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 68,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 48,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 4.4 on 2020-10-03 — about 580 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.6 Near Marysvale, Utah · 45 km N 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 38.0990, -112.4168. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Piute County, UT 36 km (23 mi) NE earthquakes near Piute County
Beaver County, UT 77 km (48 mi) WNW earthquakes near Beaver County
Iron County, UT 81 km (50 mi) WSW earthquakes near Iron County
Sevier County, UT 89 km (55 mi) NE earthquakes near Sevier County
Garfield County, UT 90 km (56 mi) ESE earthquakes near Garfield County
Kane County, UT 106 km (66 mi) SSE earthquakes near Kane County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 13 km SSW of Beaver, Utah
  2. 1.6 8 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
  3. 1.9 12 km N of Antimony, Utah
  4. 2.2 2 km NE of Beaver, Utah
  5. 1.7 7 km NW of Circleville, Utah
  6. 1.8 7 km SW of Marysvale, Utah
  7. 2.2 14 km W of Panguitch, Utah
  8. 2.6 15 km ESE of Paragonah, Utah
  9. 2.1 13 km ESE of Paragonah, Utah
  10. 2.3 15 km W of Panguitch, Utah
  11. 2.3 15 km W of Panguitch, Utah
  12. 1.8 14 km ESE of Paragonah, Utah
  13. 2.1 19 km SSE of Minersville, Utah
  14. 2.0 5 km SE of Paragonah, Utah
  15. 2.5 20 km N of Paragonah, 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.