QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4ml

Earthquake near Afton, WY

No earthquake was likely felt in Afton in the 24 hours to 10:35 am MST (17:35 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 14 km (9 mi) W, at 3:44 pm MDT on 19 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Afton

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west of Afton, WY, at 2:02 am MDT on 8 September 2023 (08:02 UTC), 3.2 km deep.

USGS: 4 km W of Afton, Wyoming

2:02 am MDT, Sep 8, 2023 · · 3.2 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Caribou County 46 kmBear Lake County 57 kmLincoln County 61 kmSublette County 87 kmBonneville County 90 kmFranklin County 93 kmBannock County 102 kmTeton County 116 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
2:02 am MDT on 8 September 2023 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west of Afton, WY · earthquakes near Afton
Magnitude
M 2.4 (ml)
Depth
3.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Caribou County, 46 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Grand Valley 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 1160 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Afton, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Star Valley Ranch.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 92,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 5.3 on 2017-09-02 — about 23,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 4 km SSE of Auburn, Wyoming · 3 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 Southeastern Idaho · 39 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 29 km WSW of Freedom, Idaho · 40 km WNW 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 42.7323, -110.9865. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Caribou County, ID 46 km (29 mi) W earthquakes near Caribou County
Bear Lake County, ID 57 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Bear Lake County
Lincoln County, WY 61 km (38 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lincoln County
Sublette County, WY 87 km (54 mi) E earthquakes near Sublette County
Bonneville County, ID 90 km (56 mi) NW earthquakes near Bonneville County
Franklin County, ID 93 km (58 mi) SW earthquakes near Franklin 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. 2.8 5 km NE of Star Valley Ranch, Wyoming
  2. 2.5 14 km ENE of Soda Springs, Idaho
  3. 1.6 16 km ENE of Bennington, Idaho
  4. 3.8 19 km WSW of Fairview, Wyoming
  5. 1.8 21 km NNE of Georgetown, Idaho
  6. 1.6 32 km W of Freedom, Idaho
  7. 1.6 12 km ENE of Soda Springs, Idaho
  8. 2.5 10 km ENE of Soda Springs, Idaho
  9. 2.6 8 km NE of Soda Springs, Idaho
  10. 2.0 16 km ENE of Etna, Wyoming
  11. 1.9 18 km SW of Fairview, Wyoming
  12. 2.7 10 km W of Fairview, Wyoming
  13. 3.0 7 km W of Thayne, Wyoming
  14. 2.3 4 km WSW of Thayne, Wyoming
  15. 2.7 7 km SW of Freedom, 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.