QuakeIndex

Earthquakes in Kentucky

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The most recent earthquake of M2.5 or more in Kentucky was M 2.6, 11 km SW of Middlesboro, Kentucky, at 3:07 pm EST on 4 January 2026, 23 km deep. 5 people reported feeling it to USGS. 5 smaller earthquakes have been recorded in Kentucky since.

No earthquake of M1.5 or more was recorded in Kentucky in the last 24 hours.

Last 24 hours
0
Last 7 days
0
Last 30 days
0 · since 2016, about one every 2 months
Last 12 months
8 · largest M 3.1 on 28 December 2025
Since 2016
82 earthquakes of M1.5 or more
Largest since 2016
M 3.8 on 16 May 2024, 6 km S of Ridgely, Tennessee

Latest quake, 24 hours and 7 days: the QuakeIndex database, which reads USGS every 30 seconds, read at ; 30 days and 12 months: the QuakeIndex catalogue, counted to · earthquakes of M1.5 or more in Kentucky, where USGS names the state in the location

Every earthquake in Kentucky in the last 24 hours →

0

Quiet QuakeIndex 0 / 100

0 quakes of M1.5 or larger in the last 7 days in Kentucky. Normal for here is 2 to 5 in a week.

Compared against Kentucky's own 10 years · USGS catalogue · updated

If you felt one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings or forecasts. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert and the MyShake app.

The last 30 days

Oct 14 Oct 29 Nov 12
Each mark is a day's largest quake within range; its size is the magnitude. The shaded band is the magnitude a day's largest quake normally falls in here (M1.7–M2.3), from this place's own 10-year record. A mark above the band is a bigger day than usual.

Show these earthquakes on your own site: a free card with this strip and the latest quakes in Kentucky, for a local news site, school or neighborhood page.

Live · last 7 days

Latest earthquakes in Kentucky

None in Kentucky in the latest snapshot we hold; the full 7 days load from USGS as this page opens.

Source USGS · snapshot of

The last 7 days on the map

The map loads when it scrolls into view.
Every earthquake in Kentucky in the last 7 days, from the USGS feed. Colour and size are magnitude; tap one for its page.

Open the full map — zoom anywhere, or find your own location →

Largest on record in and around Kentucky

MagnitudeWhenWhere
M 3.8 6 km S of Ridgely, Tennessee
M 3.8 2 km NE of Fincastle, Tennessee
M 3.8 4 km N of Bellmont, Illinois
M 3.8 4 km NW of Ohlman, Illinois
M 3.7 11 km NNW of Richlands, Virginia
M 3.7 12 km NNW of Dyersburg, Tennessee
M 3.6 4 km SW of Caruthersville, Missouri
M 3.6 9 km ESE of Wyatt, Missouri

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service · inside a rectangle drawn around Kentucky, which takes in some ground over its borders.

Before 2016: the largest in Kentucky since 1900

The USGS record from 1900 to 2015 lists one earthquake of M5 or more in and just off Kentucky:

  1. 5.0 2 km SW of Sharpsburg, Kentucky

USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900 to 2015, each epicentre counted for the state whose nearest county it is. Epicentres of early earthquakes are estimates. This is the record, not a forecast.

The busiest mapped faults in Kentucky

USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database and the QuakeIndex catalogue. Every major fault →

The most active counties in Kentucky

CountyM1.5+ in 10 yearsThis week
Fulton County 1,925 Quiet (0)
Hickman County 1,810 Quiet (0)
Carlisle County 1,670 Quiet (0)
Graves County 1,566 Quiet (0)
Ballard County 1,418 Quiet (0)
McCracken County 664 Quiet (0)

Counted within each county page's own radius from the QuakeIndex catalogue (USGS, M1.5+, ten years).

Towns in Kentucky with the most earthquakes named after them

Lexington 4 M2.5+ named after it

Each town page lists every M1.5+ earthquake within 30 km since 2016 and the ones USGS named after it. Town names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).

Counties in Kentucky

Be ready

Earthquakes cannot be predicted, here or anywhere, so the useful step is the one taken beforehand. The advice below is from the agencies responsible for it.