QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Parowan, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Parowan in the 24 hours to 9:17 pm MST (04:17 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 10 km (6 mi) WSW, at 8:04 pm MDT on 28 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Parowan

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) northeast of Parowan, UT, at 7:37 am MDT on 31 March 2023 (13:37 UTC), 5.6 km deep.

USGS: 18 km NE of Paragonah, Utah

7:37 am MDT, Mar 31, 2023 · · 5.6 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Piute County 58 kmIron County 59 kmBeaver County 65 kmGarfield County 106 kmSevier County 109 kmKane County 109 kmWashington County 112 kmMillard County 114 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
7:37 am MDT on 31 March 2023 ()
Where
25 km (15 mi) northeast of Parowan, UT · earthquakes near Parowan
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
5.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Piute County, 58 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Parowan Valley faults, 12 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 1323 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Parowan, 25 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: Panguitch, Beaver.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 46 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 2,800 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 38.0095, -112.6420. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Piute County, UT 58 km (36 mi) NE earthquakes near Piute County
Iron County, UT 59 km (37 mi) W earthquakes near Iron County
Beaver County, UT 65 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Beaver County
Garfield County, UT 106 km (66 mi) E earthquakes near Garfield County
Sevier County, UT 109 km (68 mi) NE earthquakes near Sevier County
Kane County, UT 109 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Kane County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 11 km S of Beaver, Utah
  2. 1.9 11 km NW of Summit, Utah
  3. 1.5 3 km SW of Circleville, Utah
  4. 1.5 Utah
  5. 2.8 13 km SSE of Beaver, Utah
  6. 1.9 3 km W of Panguitch, Utah
  7. 2.0 25 km WSW of Minersville, Utah
  8. 1.6 6 km NNW of Enoch, Utah
  9. 2.3 6 km NW of Enoch, Utah
  10. 1.7 13 km WSW of Hatch, Utah
  11. 2.1 Utah
  12. 1.8 10 km SW of Hatch, Utah
  13. 1.6 5 km W of Circleville, Utah
  14. 1.6 12 km NW of Hatch, Utah
  15. 1.6 7 km NNW of Circleville, 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.