Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Cedar City, UT
No earthquake was likely felt in Cedar City in the 24 hours to 7:27 pm MST (02:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 16 km (10 mi) N, at 10:46 am MST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Cedar City
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) north-northeast of Cedar City, UT, at 12:03 pm MDT on 2 May 2021 (18:03 UTC), 5.9 km deep.
USGS: 16 km N of Paragonah, Utah
- When
- 12:03 pm MDT on 2 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) north-northeast of Cedar City, UT · earthquakes near Cedar City
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 5.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Iron County, 48 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Parowan Valley faults, 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 2019 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cedar City, UT
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cedar City, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Cedar City, 47 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Parowan, Beaver.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.6 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 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 19,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 38.0335, -112.7783. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron County, UT | 48 km (30 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Iron County |
| Beaver County, UT | 54 km (34 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Beaver County |
| Piute County, UT | 66 km (41 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Piute County |
| Washington County, UT | 106 km (66 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Washington County |
| Millard County, UT | 107 km (67 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Millard County |
| Sevier County, UT | 116 km (72 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Sevier County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 6 km SW of Beaver, Utah
- 1.7 15 km NW of Beaver, Utah
- 2.0 16 km NW of Beaver, Utah
- 1.9 11 km NW of Circleville, Utah
- 1.6 18 km SSE of Minersville, Utah
- 2.2 12 km NW of Summit, Utah
- 1.8 13 km WNW of Enoch, Utah
- 2.4 10 km WNW of Panguitch, Utah
- 2.9 15 km NW of Beaver, Utah
- 1.6 15 km NW of Beaver, Utah
- 1.6 9 km WNW of Panguitch, Utah
- 2.0 Utah
- 1.7 15 km NW of Beaver, Utah
- 1.6 15 km NW of Beaver, Utah
- 2.0 9 km WNW of Panguitch, 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.