Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Preston, ID
No earthquake was likely felt in Preston in the 24 hours to 3:15 am MST (10:15 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 50 km (31 mi) NE, at 5:05 am MDT on 15 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 29 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Preston
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) south-southeast of Preston, ID, at 4:10 pm MDT on 2 May 2021 (22:10 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 1 km WNW of Franklin, Idaho
31 km (19 mi) N of Logan, UT · 139 km (86 mi) N of Salt Lake City, UT
- When
- 4:10 pm MDT on 2 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) south-southeast of Preston, ID · earthquakes near Preston
- Idaho today
- every earthquake in Idaho in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- 8 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Franklin County, 17 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- East Cache fault, 6 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 1952 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Preston, ID
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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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Preston, 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: Lewiston, Richmond, Smithfield, Hyde Park, Benson, North Logan.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 25 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 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 8 km W of Garden City, Utah · 29 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.2 16 km ENE of North Logan, Utah · 30 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.0 2 km S of Richmond, Utah · 14 km S 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 42.0222, -111.8275. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin County, ID | 17 km (10 mi) | N | earthquakes near Franklin County |
| Cache County, UT | 33 km (20 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Cache County |
| Bear Lake County, ID | 51 km (31 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Bear Lake County |
| Oneida County, ID | 60 km (37 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Oneida County |
| Rich County, UT | 66 km (41 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Rich County |
| Bannock County, ID | 82 km (51 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Bannock County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 2 km NNW of Benson, Utah
- 3.2 1 km NE of Benson, Utah
- 1.9 Utah
- 2.7 1 km NNE of Benson, Utah
- 1.8 1 km NNE of Benson, Utah
- 1.9 3 km NNW of Benson, Utah
- 2.8 2 km N of Benson, Utah
- 2.0 0 km ENE of Benson, Utah
- 2.6 2 km NW of Benson, Utah
- 2.5 2 km NNE of Benson, Utah
- 2.3 0 km NW of Benson, Utah
- 2.6 3 km SSE of Trenton, Utah
- 1.7 10 km SSW of Malad City, Idaho
- 1.7 11 km SSW of Malad City, Idaho
- 1.6 3 km NW of Amalga, 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.