SOUTHERN UTAH – The U.S. Geological Service issued notice of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake at 1:02 p.m. today, seven miles west-northwest of Enoch, nine miles north northwest of Cedar City. Additional quakes have registered throughout the day of lesser magnitude, and a 3.7 magnitude at 7:47 p.m. in the same area, according to the University of Utah Seismology Stations listing.
The epicenter was in the Intermountain seismic belt which is, according to the USGS website, a prominent north-south-trending zone of recordied seismicity in the Intermountain West, and subject to “earthquake swarms,” which are clusters of earthquakes, with no main shocks, of maximum magnitude 3 to 4.
Earthquakes of occasional greater magnitude in the area have included a magnitude 6.5 in 1901 in Richfield, a group of three magnitude 5 and 6 quakes in Elsinore in 1921, and magnitude 5.9 near St. George in 1992.
Resource
For recent earthquakes in the Intermountain West, visit the University of Utah Seismology Stations listings here.
UPDATED 9:30 p.m. Reference to additional earthquakes in today’s cluster added.
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