WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah, Dec. 21, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A 3.6 magnitude earthquake was recorded in southern Utah Tuesday afternoon.
The quake, with an epicenter 22 miles from Hurricane and 5 miles east of Zion National Park, happened at 3:36 p.m. Thursday. It occurred at a depth of about 12 miles.
“The earthquake was felt in Hurricane and the surrounding area,” says a statement released by the University of Utah Seismic Center.
“A total of eight earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater have occurred within 16 mi of the epicenter of this event since 1962. The largest of these events was a magnitude 3.4 on March 11, 1989, 3.9 miles East of Colorado City, Arizona.”
Anyone who felt the earthquake is encouraged to fill out a survey form on the US Geological Survey website: earthquake.usgs.gov.
Multiple posters on the Hurricane Community Facebook page said they hadn’t felt the quake. Several reported they did. One assumed it was nearby construction, and another thought it was a passing semi.
One mentioned computer monitors shaking, and another “thought the neighbors were shaking their pecan trees.”
No serious damage had been confirmed as of 5 p.m.
An earthquake magnitude scale said that quakes of 5.4 or less are “often felt, but only cause minor damage.” It estimated approximately 500,000 quakes of 5.4 magnitude or less occur each year.
