Wasatch Fault Zone
Utah, USA · continental rift · 670.8 km of mapped active fault in 6 traces
unknown as of 7 November 2026.
no baseline good enough to compare against; the catalogue holds too few events on this system to say what normal is
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 0 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.00 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 3 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 0.10 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
Confidence in that rate is low: the catalogue holds too few events here for the average to carry much weight, and this system is never called elevated on the strength of it alone.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 670.8 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 6 |
| Tectonic setting | continental rift |
| Slip types | Normal |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | 39.38 to 41.65 latitude, -112.06 to -111.55 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 2 significant earthquakes attributed to this system since 1962.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 5.8, on 30 August 1962 (Utah).
The most recent entry is the 18 March 2020 magnitude 5.7 earthquake (Utah).
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 August 1962 | magnitude 5.8 earthquake | Utah | $1 million damage |
| 18 March 2020 | magnitude 5.7 earthquake | Utah | 2 homes destroyed, $132 million damage |
A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Published rupture probability
USGS and Utah Geological Survey (Fact Sheet 2016-3019) publishes a probability for this system. It is their figure, not ours:
| Probability | 18% |
|---|---|
| For an earthquake of | M6.8 or larger |
| Within | 50 years |
| As of | 2016 |
Read the issuer's own publication
Who to listen to if you live here
Utah Geological Survey is the agency that tells people on this system what to do. https://geology.utah.gov/hazards/earthquakes/ (in English)
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.