QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Benson, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Benson in the 24 hours to 12:34 am MST (07:34 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 3.2 earthquake was recorded in Benson, UT, at 2:44 pm MST on 3 January 2023 (21:44 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 332 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1 km NE of Benson, Utah

9 km (5 mi) NW of Logan, UT · 113 km (70 mi) N of Salt Lake City, UT

2:44 pm MST, Jan 3, 2023 · · 0.8 km deep · released about 1,800 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Benson Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cache County 16 kmFranklin County 43 kmWeber County 58 kmRich County 59 kmOneida County 66 kmBear Lake County 73 kmMorgan County 83 kmDavis County 87 kmBox Elder County 97 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
2:44 pm MST on 3 January 2023 ()
Where
in Benson, UT · earthquakes near Benson
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
0.8 km below the surface
Felt
332 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Cache County, 16 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
West 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 1317 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 46 km (29 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 10 km, intensity III · North Logan 10 km, intensity III · Tremonton 22 km, intensity II · Brigham City 33 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,800 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,800 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.9× more

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 · 39 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 26 km E of Avon, Utah · 48 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 16 km ENE of North Logan, Utah · 25 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 2 km S of Richmond, Utah · 14 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 41.7943, -111.9202. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cache County, UT 16 km (10 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cache County
Franklin County, ID 43 km (27 mi) N earthquakes near Franklin County
Weber County, UT 58 km (36 mi) S earthquakes near Weber County
Rich County, UT 59 km (37 mi) ESE earthquakes near Rich County
Oneida County, ID 66 km (41 mi) NW earthquakes near Oneida County
Bear Lake County, ID 73 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. 1.9 16 km SW of Thatcher, Utah
  2. 1.7 17 km SW of Thatcher, Utah
  3. 3.9 16 km SW of Thatcher, Utah
  4. 2.0 6 km WSW of Clifton, Idaho
  5. 1.6 6 km WSW of Clifton, Idaho
  6. 1.8 6 km WSW of Clifton, Idaho
  7. 1.7 7 km WSW of Clifton, Idaho
  8. 1.5 8 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  9. 1.9 6 km WSW of Clifton, Idaho
  10. 2.4 6 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  11. 2.5 8 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  12. 2.2 7 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  13. 1.9 7 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  14. 2.8 7 km SW of Clifton, Idaho
  15. 2.3 7 km WSW of Clifton, Idaho

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.