QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Beaver, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Beaver in the 24 hours to 2:43 am MST (09:43 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 31 km (20 mi) NW, at 11:10 am MST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Beaver

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) south-southwest of Beaver, UT, at 2:39 am MDT on 27 August 2023 (08:39 UTC), 7.6 km deep.

USGS: Utah

2:39 am MDT, Aug 27, 2023 · · 7.6 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Iron County 53 kmBeaver County 55 kmPiute County 61 kmMillard County 105 kmSevier County 111 kmWashington County 111 kmGarfield County 115 kmKane County 119 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
2:39 am MDT on 27 August 2023 ()
Where
25 km (16 mi) south-southwest of Beaver, UT · earthquakes near Beaver
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
7.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Iron County, 53 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Parowan Valley faults, 9 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 1172 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Beaver, 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: Parowan.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 12,000 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 38.0627, -112.7348. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Iron County, UT 53 km (33 mi) WSW earthquakes near Iron County
Beaver County, UT 55 km (34 mi) NW earthquakes near Beaver County
Piute County, UT 61 km (38 mi) ENE earthquakes near Piute County
Millard County, UT 105 km (65 mi) NNW earthquakes near Millard County
Sevier County, UT 111 km (69 mi) NE earthquakes near Sevier County
Washington County, UT 111 km (69 mi) SW earthquakes near Washington County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 14 km NE of Milford, Utah
  2. 1.8 14 km NE of Milford, Utah
  3. 1.6 14 km NE of Milford, Utah
  4. 1.9 14 km NE of Milford, Utah
  5. 1.9 15 km NE of Milford, Utah
  6. 2.1 15 km NE of Milford, Utah
  7. 2.0 15 km NE of Milford, Utah
  8. 1.8 15 km E of Milford, Utah
  9. 1.9 15 km ESE of Milford, Utah
  10. 1.7 15 km ESE of Milford, Utah
  11. 2.1 15 km S of Beaver, Utah
  12. 1.6 8 km SW of Milford, Utah
  13. 1.9 4 km NNW of Enoch, Utah
  14. 1.8 18 km NE of Milford, Utah
  15. 1.5 2 km N of Beaver, 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.