QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Benson, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Benson in the 24 hours to 12:53 am MST (07:53 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 79 km (49 mi) NNE, at 5:05 am MDT on 15 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 29 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Benson

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded in Benson, UT, at 4:49 am MST on 1 January 2023 (11:49 UTC), 7.4 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 0 km NW of Benson, Utah

10 km (6 mi) NW of Logan, UT · 113 km (70 mi) N of Salt Lake City, UT

4:49 am MST, Jan 1, 2023 · · 7.4 km deep · released about 74 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cache County 17 kmFranklin County 43 kmWeber County 58 kmRich County 61 kmOneida County 65 kmBear Lake County 74 kmMorgan County 84 kmDavis County 87 kmBox Elder County 95 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
4:49 am MST on 1 January 2023 ()
Where
in Benson, UT · earthquakes near Benson
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
7.4 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Cache County, 17 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
West Cache fault, 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 1341 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

Likely felt in: Logan 11 km, intensity II · North Logan 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 74 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 8 km W of Garden City, Utah · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 26 km E of Avon, Utah · 49 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 16 km ENE of North Logan, Utah · 27 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 2 km S of Richmond, Utah · 15 km NE 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 41.7933, -111.9377. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cache County, UT 17 km (11 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cache County
Franklin County, ID 43 km (27 mi) NNE earthquakes near Franklin County
Weber County, UT 58 km (36 mi) S earthquakes near Weber County
Rich County, UT 61 km (38 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rich County
Oneida County, ID 65 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Oneida County
Bear Lake County, ID 74 km (46 mi) NE earthquakes near Bear Lake County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 6 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  2. 2.5 8 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  3. 2.2 7 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  4. 1.9 7 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  5. 2.8 7 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  6. 2.3 7 km WSW of Clifton, Idaho
  7. 2.0 7 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  8. 1.9 8 km WSW of Clifton, Idaho
  9. 1.5 9 km WSW of Clifton, Idaho
  10. 1.6 7 km WSW of Thatcher, Utah
  11. 1.9 10 km E of Franklin, Idaho
  12. 1.9 15 km WSW of Bloomington, Idaho
  13. 1.7 8 km ENE of Howell, Utah
  14. 1.7 3 km ESE of Honeyville, Utah
  15. 1.6 9 km ESE of Avon, 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.