Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
4 km ENE of Magna, UT
Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 4 km ENE of Magna, UT, 6 km (4 mi) NW of West Valley City, UT, at 3:17 pm MST on 18 November 2020 (22:17 UTC), 10 km deep. 192 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
6 km (4 mi) NW of West Valley City, UT
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 192 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Salt Lake County, 13 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Valley fault, 5 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 2109 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Magna, UT
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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 19 km (12 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 4 km, intensity II · West Valley City 6 km, intensity II · Kearns 9 km, intensity II · Taylorsville 12 km, intensity II · Salt Lake City 15 km, intensity II · Murray 16 km, intensity II · Millcreek 16 km, intensity II · West Jordan 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 150 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 72,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 150 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 72,000 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 40.7285, -112.0603. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake County, UT | 13 km (8 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Salt Lake County |
| Davis County, UT | 36 km (23 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Davis County |
| Morgan County, UT | 57 km (36 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Morgan County |
| Weber County, UT | 62 km (39 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Weber County |
| Utah County, UT | 75 km (47 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Utah County |
| Wasatch County, UT | 88 km (54 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.
- 1.6 5 km NNW of West Valley City, Utah
- 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
- 1.5 5 km SW of American Fork, 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
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.