Earthquake near Washington, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Washington in the 24 hours to 8:04 am MST (15:04 UTC). The last one was M 1.5, 3 km (2 mi) N, at 1:53 am MDT on 31 July 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Washington

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Washington, UT, at 4:14 pm MST on 23 December 2020 (23:14 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 8 km SSE of Washington, Utah

9 km (5 mi) ESE of St. George, UT

4:14 pm MST, Dec 23, 2020 · 2020-12-23 23:14 UTC · 15 km deep · released about 8.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Washington Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 4:14 pm MST on 23 December 2020 (2020-12-23 23:14 UTC)
Where: 9 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Washington, UT · earthquakes near Washington
Magnitude: M 1.6 (md)
Depth: 15 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Washington County, 23 km N
Nearest mapped fault: Washington fault, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2150 days ago · we first saw it 2150 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Washington, 9 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Saint George, Santa Clara, Ivins, Hurricane, LaVerkin, Toquerville.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

6.3 Near Pine Valley, Utah · 38 km N of this epicentre Nov 17, 1902
5.9 3 km SSE of Washington, Utah · 5 km NNW of this epicentre Sep 2, 1992

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Washington County, UT	23 km (14 mi)	N	earthquakes near Washington County
Iron County, UT	96 km (60 mi)	N	earthquakes near Iron County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

1.9 3 km NE of Hildale, Utah 22:38 UTC
1.5 27 km SSE of Saint George, Utah 23:41 UTC
1.6 4 km NNE of Saint George, Utah 00:16 UTC
2.0 10 km SE of New Harmony, Utah 08:56 UTC
2.3 32 km S of Saint George, Utah 12:36 UTC
2.2 6 km E of Washington, Utah 21:13 UTC
2.0 4 km WNW of Washington, Utah 16:40 UTC
1.5 11 km WSW of Veyo, Utah 05:02 UTC
1.8 5 km N of Hildale, Utah 11:47 UTC
1.5 12 km N of Pine Valley, Utah 17:29 UTC
1.7 23 km E of Littlefield, Arizona 20:29 UTC
1.6 17 km WSW of Ivins, Utah 07:59 UTC
2.1 Arizona 13:51 UTC
1.6 16 km SW of Santa Clara, Utah 18:21 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 15:04 UTC. 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.