Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Cedar City, UT
No earthquake was likely felt in Cedar City in the 24 hours to 5:26 am MST (12:26 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 16 km (10 mi) N, at 10:46 am MST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Cedar City
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) northwest of Cedar City, UT, at 1:39 am MDT on 16 October 2020 (07:39 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 10 km NW of Cedar City, Utah
82 km (51 mi) NNE of St. George, UT
- When
- 1:39 am MDT on 16 October 2020 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) northwest of Cedar City, UT · earthquakes near Cedar City
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Iron County, 23 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Cedar City-Parowan monocline (and faults), 11 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 2219 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cedar City, UT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cedar City, 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 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Cedar City, 11 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: Cedar City 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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:
- 6.3 Near Pine Valley, Utah · 48 km SW 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 37.7388, -113.1598. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron County, UT | 23 km (14 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Iron County |
| Washington County, UT | 60 km (37 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Washington County |
| Beaver County, UT | 69 km (43 mi) | N | earthquakes near Beaver County |
| Piute County, UT | 112 km (70 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Piute County |
| Kane County, UT | 129 km (80 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kane County |
| Sevier County, UT | 163 km (101 mi) | NE | 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.
- 1.7 13 km SSE of Kanarraville, Utah
- 1.6 10 km N of Enoch, Utah
- 1.5 7 km ESE of Kanarraville, Utah
- 1.8 8 km ENE of Kanarraville, Utah
- 1.8 11 km ESE of Paragonah, Utah
- 1.5 20 km WSW of Minersville, Utah
- 1.9 9 km S of Cedar City, Utah
- 1.6 11 km WNW of Kanarraville, Utah
- 1.7 12 km WNW of Kanarraville, Utah
- 1.8 12 km N of New Harmony, Utah
- 1.6 12 km N of New Harmony, Utah
- 2.0 12 km WNW of Kanarraville, Utah
- 1.5 12 km WNW of Kanarraville, Utah
- 1.5 15 km SE of Kanarraville, 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.