SPRING CITY—There was a small 2.44 magnitude micro earthquake that struck south of town just after midnight on Tuesday; but no one reported feeling it.
The University of Utah Seismograph Station reported that a 2.44 magnitude micro earthquake hit about four miles south and east of Spring City at 12:16 a.m. on Wednesday, March 3.
The epicenter of the small quake was near Canal Creek at a depth of 5 miles, according to the U of U Seismology Station. Interestingly, a similar, but smaller quake of a 1.3 magnitude hit in the same area on Monday morning, March 1, at 1:37 a.m. at a depth of 2.5 miles.
Spring City treasurer Whit Allred said, “He didn’t feel a thing.” No one has even reported an earthquake, he said. Personnel from public works reported that everything is working fine. There are no issues with water flows or broken pipes, the man said.
The two small quakes near Spring City are probably related, with the first and smaller quake being a foreshock to the larger 2.4 quake, said U of U seismologist Katherine Whidden.
Both quakes are so small and occurred so deep underground that it is doubtful anyone felt them, Whidden said. Typically, an earthquake must register at least a magnitude 3.0 to be detected by humans, she said.
These two quakes are very typical of smaller quakes that happen all the time throughout Utah, she said.
These quakes cannot be considered aftershocks to the large 5.5 magnitude earthquake that hit Magna and shook the Salt Lake Valley in March of 2020, she said. Spring City is just too far away.
Since the Magna quake, there have been over 2,590 aftershocks recorded in the Salt Lake vicinity, Whidden said. For more information on Utah earthquakes, visit quake.utah.edu.
