Seismologists recorded 96 earthquakes across the Utah region over a two-week period, including a swarm of 22 earthquakes near Circleville. Photo: Tanner Vonnahme

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Seismologists recorded 96 earthquakes across the Utah region during a recent two-week period, including a swarm of 22 earthquakes near Circleville in south-central Utah.

The University of Utah Seismograph Stations said in a social media update Monday that the earthquakes ranged in magnitude from minus 0.1 to 3.5.

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The largest was a magnitude 3.5 earthquake recorded July 14 near Little America, Wyoming, according to the university.

The U.S. Geological Survey located the earthquake about 1 kilometer, or less than a mile, northwest of Little America. It occurred at 8:24 a.m. Mountain time. The earthquake’s calculated depth was slightly above sea level, which can occur when an earthquake takes place beneath terrain at a higher elevation.

The University of Utah Seismograph Stations monitors earthquakes throughout a region that includes Utah and portions of neighboring states. The Little America earthquake was recorded by the university’s regional seismic network and reviewed by seismologists.

The university also reported an ongoing swarm of 22 earthquakes near Circleville, a Piute County community in south-central Utah.

USGS records confirm that multiple small earthquakes occurred near Circleville during the period. The recorded earthquakes included events west, southwest, and east of the community, most with magnitudes below 2.

An earthquake swarm is a group of earthquakes occurring in the same area over a relatively short period without one clearly identifiable mainshock. Unlike an aftershock sequence, a swarm is not necessarily triggered by a single, larger earthquake.

Most of the earthquakes reported in the Utah region were small. Earthquakes with negative magnitudes are possible because the magnitude scale is logarithmic and sensitive instruments can detect events smaller than those originally used to define magnitude zero.

The University of Utah Seismograph Stations operates Utah’s regional earthquake-monitoring network and contributes its findings to the USGS national earthquake catalog.