QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Parowan, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Parowan in the 24 hours to 12:07 am MST (07:07 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) northwest of Parowan, UT, at 2:46 pm MDT on 1 September 2023 (20:46 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 16 km NW of Parowan, Utah

2:46 pm MDT, Sep 1, 2023 · · 14 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Iron County 31 kmBeaver County 52 kmPiute County 84 kmWashington County 90 kmMillard County 113 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
2:46 pm MDT on 1 September 2023 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) northwest of Parowan, UT · earthquakes near Parowan
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Iron County, 31 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Enoch graben faults, 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 1164 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Parowan, 16 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: Enoch.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 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 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 11,000 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 37.9482, -112.9517. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Iron County, UT 31 km (20 mi) W earthquakes near Iron County
Beaver County, UT 52 km (32 mi) NNW earthquakes near Beaver County
Piute County, UT 84 km (52 mi) ENE earthquakes near Piute County
Washington County, UT 90 km (56 mi) SSW earthquakes near Washington County
Millard County, UT 113 km (70 mi) N earthquakes near Millard County
Kane County, UT 125 km (78 mi) SE earthquakes near Kane County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 11 km NW of Enoch, Utah
  2. 2.5 8 km NW of Enoch, Utah
  3. 2.0 9 km NW of Enoch, Utah
  4. 1.8 8 km WNW of Enoch, Utah
  5. 1.6 7 km NW of Enoch, Utah
  6. 1.6 9 km NW of Enoch, Utah
  7. 2.4 1 km S of Summit, Utah
  8. 2.0 1 km SSE of Summit, Utah
  9. 1.6 2 km SSW of Summit, Utah
  10. 1.8 1 km SSE of Summit, Utah
  11. 1.6 1 km SSE of Summit, Utah
  12. 2.4 1 km SSE of Summit, Utah
  13. 2.7 1 km WSW of Summit, Utah
  14. 2.3 4 km WNW of Panguitch, Utah
  15. 1.8 12 km ENE of Kanarraville, 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.