The 1901 Richfield earthquake was a magnitude earthquake that occurred on 13 November 1901 at approximately 9:39 PM MDT at

Richfield, Utah Richfield is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Utah, United States, and is the largest city in southern-central Utah. Description As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,551. It lies in the Mormon Corridor, just off I ...

, United States. If estimations are accurate, it is the largest earthquake ever recorded in Utah.

Earthquake

The earthquake struck at approximately 9:39 PM MDT approximately south of

, United States. Reports of the length of the quake varied from about one minute to three minutes. There were three waves—increasing in power—to the initial quake, and "roaring" or "low rumbling" sounds accompanying the shock waves were reported in Fillmore,

Cedar City Cedar City is the largest city in Iron County, Utah, United States. It is located south of Salt Lake City, and north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15. It is the home of Southern Utah University, the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Summer Gam ...

, and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. The time of the quake is officially recorded by the Intermountain Seismic Belt Historical Earthquake Project (ISBHEP) as 9:39 PM MDT. The USGS report gives an official time as 9:32 PM MDT. News reports from the time give times ranging from 9:30 PM MDT to 10:45 PM MDT.

Magnitude and intensity

The quake was recorded by the ISBHEP as a and an

intensity Intensity may refer to: In colloquial use *Strength (disambiguation) *Amplitude * Level (disambiguation) * Magnitude (disambiguation) In physical sciences Physics *Intensity (physics), power per unit area (W/m2) *Field strength of electric, ma ...

of IX (''Violent''). The official

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

report in their historical earthquakes list stated no magnitude and an intensity of VIII (''Severe''). An official report published in 1988 assigned a magnitude of and an

of IX (''Violent''). The quake was felt in an area of , including Cedar City (intensity VI),

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

, and Fillmore. Salt Lake City (with intensity of IV) is considered an "outlying point well outside the boundary of the main felt area."

Destruction

Damage to chimneys, walls, roofs, windows was reported in Richfield,

Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, Elsinore, and Marysvale, with minor damage reported in

Parowan Parowan ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Iron County, Utah, United States. The population was 2,790 at the 2010 census, and in 2018 the estimated population was 3,100. Parowan became the first incorporated city in Iron County in 1851. A ...

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, and

Kanab Kanab ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kane County, Utah, Kane County, Utah, United States.Find a Co ...

Surface rupture In seismology, surface rupture (or ground rupture, or ground displacement) is the visible offset of the ground surface when an earthquake rupture along a fault affects the Earth's surface. Surface rupture is opposed by buried rupture, where the ...

s up to in length were reported in Richfield, with water and white sand being

ejected Ejection or Eject may refer to: * Ejection (sports), the act of officially removing someone from a game * Eject (''Transformers''), a fictional character from ''The Transformers'' television series * "Eject" (song), 1993 rap rock single by Sense ...

from some of the cracks. "Extensive rockslides" were reported between Beaver and Marysvale, especially in the canyons. Damage in Beaver included Beaver Woolen Mills, with an estimated US$4,000 in severe structural damage (approximately US$121,000 in 2020). The roof of the Beaver County

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

was crushed by chimneys collapsing onto it, and the walls of the building were cracked in over 25 places. Additional reports of lesser damage include a saloon, several merchant buildings, schools and related buildings, and a church building. Merchandise in several stores was also damaged. Minor damage was reported as far away as Salt Lake City, where several

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

s were reported in Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood, and Bullion Canyon. The landslides almost completely blocked the roads. Surface ruptures and increased river flow were also reported. No people were killed in the quake.

References

{{Earthquakes in the United States 1901 in Utah 1901 earthquakes 1901 natural disasters in the United States Earthquakes in Utah

Earthquake

Magnitude and intensity

Destruction

See also

References