Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Beaver, UT
No earthquake was likely felt in Beaver in the 24 hours to 6:53 am MST (13:53 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 31 km (20 mi) NW, at 11:10 am MST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Beaver
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) east-southeast of Beaver, UT, at 11:31 am MST on 19 December 2020 (18:31 UTC), 2.4 km deep.
USGS: Utah
- When
- 11:31 am MST on 19 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) east-southeast of Beaver, UT · earthquakes near Beaver
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Piute County, 31 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 2152 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Beaver, 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Beaver, 26 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 21 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 5.8 730,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 520,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 46× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 6,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.6 Near Marysvale, Utah · 39 km N of this epicentre
- 5.0 10 km NE of Marysvale, Utah · 46 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 38.1513, -112.3920. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piute County, UT | 31 km (19 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Piute County |
| Beaver County, UT | 77 km (48 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Beaver County |
| Sevier County, UT | 83 km (52 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Sevier County |
| Iron County, UT | 85 km (53 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Iron County |
| Garfield County, UT | 90 km (56 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Garfield County |
| Kane County, UT | 110 km (68 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.
- 3.3 6.6km SW of Beaver, Utah
- 1.6 7 km N of Marysvale, Utah
- 1.6 10 km NW of Circleville, Utah
- 2.5 10 km WNW of Panguitch, Utah
- 2.8 21 km N of Panguitch, Utah
- 1.8 0 km SE of Beaver, Utah
- 1.6 16 km NW of Beaver, Utah
- 1.6 23 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
- 2.1 24 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
- 1.7 25 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
- 1.5 23 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
- 1.5 24 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
- 1.7 24 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
- 1.5 24 km WNW of Marysvale, Utah
- 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
- 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.