QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

53 km SW of Howell, Utah

Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 53 km SW of Howell, Utah, at 11:54 pm MDT on 28 April 2026 (05:54 UTC), 1.6 km deep.

· 1.6 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Box Elder County 26 kmDavis County 72 kmWeber County 85 kmOneida County 88 kmCache County 99 kmTooele County 110 kmCassia County 113 kmMorgan County 115 kmSalt Lake County 117 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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
1.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Box Elder County, 26 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Great Salt Lake fault, 8 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 197 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. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 2024-05-05 — about 19,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1934 Hansel Valley, Utah Earthquake · 25 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 35 km SSW of Howell, Utah · 19 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 Hansel Valley, Utah · 43 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 56 km SW of Howell, Utah · 13 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 27 km SW of Thatcher, Utah · 32 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 41.4378, -112.8718. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Box Elder County, UT 26 km (16 mi) NW earthquakes near Box Elder County
Davis County, UT 72 km (44 mi) SE earthquakes near Davis County
Weber County, UT 85 km (53 mi) ESE earthquakes near Weber County
Oneida County, ID 88 km (55 mi) NNE earthquakes near Oneida County
Cache County, UT 99 km (62 mi) ENE earthquakes near Cache County
Tooele County, UT 110 km (68 mi) S earthquakes near Tooele County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.9 16 km SW of Thatcher, Utah
  2. 1.6 49 km SSW of Snowville, Utah
  3. 2.1 15 km WNW of Howell, Utah
  4. 2.3 66 km W of Hooper, Utah
  5. 1.7 30 km SSW of Snowville, Utah
  6. 1.7 64 km W of Hooper, Utah
  7. 2.2 65 km W of Hooper, Utah
  8. 1.9 18 km SW of Howell, Utah
  9. 3.1 12 km SSW of Snowville, Utah
  10. 1.9 11 km SSW of Snowville, Utah
  11. 1.9 11 km SSW of Snowville, Utah
  12. 1.9 8 km WSW of Thatcher, Utah
  13. 1.7 62 km W of Hooper, Utah
  14. 1.9 64 km W of Hooper, Utah
  15. 1.9 7 km W of Thatcher, 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.