Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
6 km NNE of Magna, UT
Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 6 km NNE of Magna, UT, 11 km (7 mi) WSW of Salt Lake City, UT, at 2:12 pm MST on 17 November 2020 (21:12 UTC), 9.6 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
11 km (7 mi) WSW of Salt Lake City, UT · 9 km (5 mi) NNW of West Valley City, UT
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Salt Lake County, 15 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Valley fault, 4 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 2116 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 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. 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 6 km, intensity II · West Valley City 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 18 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 840,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 53× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 18 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 in our catalogue was M 5.7 on 2020-03-18 — about 600,000 times the energy of this one.
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 40.7570, -112.0625. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake County, UT | 15 km (10 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Salt Lake County |
| Davis County, UT | 33 km (21 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Davis County |
| Morgan County, UT | 55 km (34 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Morgan County |
| Weber County, UT | 59 km (37 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Weber County |
| Utah County, UT | 78 km (49 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
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 Utah
- 2.5 8 km NNW of Summit Park, Utah
- 1.7 4 km S of Bingham Canyon, Utah
- 1.5 4 km NW of Silver Summit, Utah
- 1.7 11 km ESE of Bountiful, Utah
- 1.7 3 km ENE of Magna, Utah
- 2.5 3 km ENE of Magna, Utah
- 1.6 2 km S of North Salt Lake, Utah
- 2.3 Utah
- 1.7 Utah
- 2.9 13 km SSE of Morgan, Utah
- 2.5 14 km N of Summit Park, Utah
- 1.5 8 km SSW of Bingham Canyon, Utah
- 1.6 4 km SW of Bingham Canyon, Utah
- 2.1 3 km ENE 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
- 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.