QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Saint George, UT

No earthquake was likely felt in Saint George in the 24 hours to 12:42 pm MST (19:42 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 95 km (59 mi) W, at 1:16 am MDT on 6 June 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 37 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Saint George

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) southwest of Saint George, UT, at 8:33 am MST on 22 December 2024 (15:33 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 3 km SW of Saint George, Utah

in St. George, UT

8:33 am MST, Dec 22, 2024 · · 18 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Washington County 23 kmIron County 96 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
8:33 am MST on 22 December 2024 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) southwest of Saint George, UT · earthquakes near Saint George
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Washington County, 23 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Washington fault, 10 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 689 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 Saint George, 3 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: Santa Clara, Washington, Ivins.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 2022-09-19 — about 9,400 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.3 Near Pine Valley, Utah · 37 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 3 km SSE of Washington, Utah · 10 km ENE 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 37.0812, -113.6110. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Washington County, UT 23 km (14 mi) NNE earthquakes near Washington County
Iron County, UT 96 km (60 mi) NNE earthquakes near Iron County
Lincoln County, NV 127 km (79 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lincoln County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.3 4 km ENE of Central, Utah
  2. 0.9 4 km ENE of Central, Utah
  3. 2.3 4 km ENE of Central, Utah
  4. 1.1 35 km SSE of Saint George, Utah
  5. 0.9 5 km NE of Central, Utah
  6. 1.6 4 km ENE of Central, Utah
  7. 1.6 4 km ENE of Central, Utah
  8. 1.4 8 km NW of Ivins, Utah
  9. 0.9 11 km NW of Veyo, Utah
  10. 2.1 5 km ESE of Pine Valley, Utah
  11. 1.5 8 km SSW of Leeds, Utah
  12. 1.6 8 km SSW of Leeds, Utah
  13. 1.6 28 km NNW of Beaver Dam, Arizona
  14. 1.6 3 km NW of Toquerville, Utah
  15. 1.9 13 km SSW of Enterprise, 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.