A shallow 4.0-magnitude earthquake shook the area near Capitol Reef National Park Monday night, but no injuries or damage were reported.
The earthquake occurred about 1.5 miles beneath the surface, just east of Capitol Reef’s boundaries and nearly 20 miles northeast of Torrey, shortly after 10:30 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
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People reported feeling it throughout Wayne County and in many neighboring counties.
Earthquake risk in the region is relatively low, and Monday’s quake was near the stronger end of the typical earthquakes that affect the region, the agency noted in a summary of the tectonic region.
Federal geologists wrote that many of the earthquakes in the western Colorado Plateau are related to underground coal mining or other oil and mining activities. It wasn’t immediately clear if that was the case on Monday.
They add that there’s about a 19% probability for a 3.0-magnitude or higher aftershock within the next week
