Motoqua, Utah
14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1885 and the latest in 1980. It stands in the St. George census division. It lies near East Fork Beaver Dam Wash. The Survey maps it on the Motoqua quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 14 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1885 USGS St. George quadrangle1:250000
- 1891 USGS St. George quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1953 USGS Cedar City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Cedar City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Cedar City quadrangle1:250000
- 1972 USGS Motoqua quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS St. George quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
64 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 64 fires within 5 miles of Motoqua between 1993 and 2019, burning about 27,724 acres in total. 52 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 52 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 9 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 September 1995 | Natural | under an acre | Cedar City Field Office | BENTLYWSH1 |
| 6 September 1995 | Natural | under an acre | Cedar City Field Office | BENTLYWSH2 |
| 6 September 1995 | Natural | under an acre | Cedar City Field Office | BENTLYWSH3 |
| 4 September 2003 | Natural | under an acre | Cedar City Field Office | FORREST |
| 25 September 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Cedar City Field Office | REDHOLLOW |
| 23 September 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4.0 acres | Utah Division Forestry Fire State Lands | D.I. RANCH |
| 15 September 1999 | Natural | 8.0 acres | Ely District Office | HALFWAYCMP |
| 9 August 2012 | Natural | 856 acres | Cedar City Field Office | D I |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Motoqua: 8 occurrences, 2 prospects. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Gold, Silver, Manganese, Iron, Gemstone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBMG Sample Site 788 Unnamed Prospect | Barium-Barite, Gold, Lead | Occurrence | Barite | |
| Unnamed Prospect | Gold, Silver, Manganese, Iron, Gemstone, Copper | Occurrence | Jasper, Malachite | |
| Unnamed Prospect | Gold, Hafnium, Iron, Manganese, Silver | Prospect | ||
| Unnamed Prospect | Gold, Lead, Barium-Barite | Prospect | ||
| Gravel Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Sand | |
| Gravel Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Gravel Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Sand | |
| Gravel Deposit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Sand | |
| Montoqua Gravel Deposit No.1 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | ||
| Montoqua Gravel Deposit No.2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
3 since 2012Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Motoqua in 3 storm reports between 2012 and 2025: 3 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2025 | Flash Flood | Motoqua | - | The Cat Claw Canyon flood/river gauge reported a rapid rise from a no-flow 0 CFS state to a peak flow of 620 CFS. Flash flood area extrapolated downstream to account for likely continued propagation of flood wave. |
| March 2023 | Flash Flood | Motoqua | - | Persistent moderate to at times heavy rain resulted in flash flooding throughout Beaver Dam Wash. For example, the Catclaw Canyon stream gage increased from a dry no-flow state of 0 CFS to a peak flow of approximately 2923 CFS. Cameras also showed water flowing in this typically dry wash. |
| July 2012 | Flash Flood | Motoqua | - | The Beaver Dam Wash experienced a flash flood, with flow in the wash increasing from zero to 1244 cfs. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gunlock | 12.6 miles | 16 | |
| Shem | 14.5 miles | 16 | |
| Shivwits | 15.4 miles | 16 | |
| Veyo | 16.4 miles | 16 | |
| Dammeron Valley | 17.4 miles | 16 | |
| Ivins | 19.4 miles | 19 | |
| Central | 21.4 miles | 16 | |
| Santa Clara | 21.8 miles | 19 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikidata item Q122559907 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1437644. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.






