Sinkhole risk in Beaver County, UT: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 8%
At or near the surface: 8%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Beaver County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 217 of Beaver County's 2,583 square miles on soluble rock, 217 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 7,424 residents (3 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 383 map points about 2.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Beaver County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 143 miles east. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Iron County, UT 31 mi south · 2% at surface
Millard County, UT 42 mi north · 18% at surface
Piute County, UT 60 mi east · 0% at surface
Washington County, UT 77 mi south · 16% at surface
Sevier County, UT 82 mi east · 6% at surface
Juab County, UT 97 mi north · 11% at surface

What Beaver County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Upper Cambrian carbonate rocks in western Utah (limestone), Middle Cambrian to Early Ordovician in age, covering about 3% of the county. Next is the Middle Cambrian shale and carbonate rocks in western Utah at 1%.

Against the rest of Utah

Beaver County ranks 19 of 29 in Utah for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 66% of US counties on that measure.