CIRCLEVILLE, Utah, Oct. 3, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — The University of Utah Seismic Center recorded a 4.4 magnitude earthquake Saturday morning in the Tushar Mountains, 10 miles southwest of Circleville and 45 miles northeast of Cedar City.
The quake happened at 5:47 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, and occured at a depth of 3.6 miles.
“This earthquake was reported felt in Cedar City and in many towns in southwestern Utah, including Panguitch and Bryce Canyon,” a statement from U of U Seismic Stations said.
“Today’s earthquake was followed by two aftershocks of magnitude 2.0 or larger within the first half an hour, the first and largest of which was a magnitude 2.5 event at 05:52 a.m.”
Since 1962, 45 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater have occurred within 16 miles of the epicenter of Saturday’s event, the statement says. The largest of these events was a magnitude 4.6 on January 03, 2011, 6.5 miles northwest of Circleville.
“Anyone who felt the earthquake is encouraged to fill out a survey form on the US Geological Survey website: earthquake.usgs.gov,” the statement says.
There have been no reports of damage caused by the earthquake.
For comparison, the earthquake that hit Magna on March 18 of this year was a 5.7 magnitude quake, at a depth of 3.7 miles, and struck in a much more populous area, doing significant structural damage.
The Magna earthquake was the state’s strongest since the 1992 St. George earthquake, which was 5.8 magnitude.
