QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Beaver, UT

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Beaver in the last 24 hours. M 2.0, 10 km (6 mi) ESE of Beaver, at 6:22 pm MST on 11 November 2026 (01:22 UTC); the estimated shaking in Beaver was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Beaver

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) east-southeast of Beaver, UT, at 10:34 am MST on 19 December 2020 (17:34 UTC), 5.9 km deep.

USGS: 6 km SW of Circleville, Utah

10:34 am MST, Dec 19, 2020 · · 5.9 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Piute County 28 kmSevier County 81 kmBeaver County 83 kmGarfield County 84 kmIron County 89 kmKane County 106 kmMillard County 115 kmWayne County 118 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
10:34 am MST on 19 December 2020 ()
Where
31 km (19 mi) east-southeast of Beaver, UT · earthquakes near Beaver
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
5.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Piute County, 28 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Sevier/Toroweap fault, 24 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 2152 days ago

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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Beaver, 31 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 12 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 11,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.6 Near Marysvale, Utah · 40 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 10 km NE of Marysvale, Utah · 45 km NNE 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 38.1402, -112.3290. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Piute County, UT 28 km (17 mi) NE earthquakes near Piute County
Sevier County, UT 81 km (50 mi) NNE earthquakes near Sevier County
Beaver County, UT 83 km (52 mi) WNW earthquakes near Beaver County
Garfield County, UT 84 km (52 mi) ESE earthquakes near Garfield County
Iron County, UT 89 km (56 mi) WSW earthquakes near Iron 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

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

  1. 3.3 6.6km SW of Beaver, Utah
  2. 1.6 7 km N of Marysvale, Utah
  3. 1.6 10 km NW of Circleville, Utah
  4. 2.5 10 km WNW of Panguitch, Utah
  5. 2.8 21 km N of Panguitch, Utah
  6. 1.8 0 km SE of Beaver, Utah
  7. 1.6 16 km NW of Beaver, Utah
  8. 1.6 23 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
  9. 2.1 24 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
  10. 1.7 25 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
  11. 1.5 23 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
  12. 1.5 24 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
  13. 1.7 24 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
  14. 1.5 24 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
  15. 1.6 11 km WNW of Junction, 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.