Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near New Castle, PA
No earthquake was likely felt in New Castle in the 24 hours to 3:24 pm EST (20:24 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 471 km (293 mi) E, at 10:23 am EDT on 5 April 2024, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 184,673 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near New Castle
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) west-southwest of New Castle, PA, at 4:16 am EDT on 25 April 2016 (08:16 UTC), 3.0 km deep.
USGS: 1 km W of Oakland, Pennsylvania
70 km (44 mi) NNW of Pittsburgh, PA · 25 km (16 mi) ESE of Youngstown, OH
- When
- 4:16 am EDT on 25 April 2016 ()
- Where
- 4 km (2 mi) west-southwest of New Castle, PA · earthquakes near New Castle
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Lawrence County, 4 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3821 days ago
Earthquake alerts for New Castle, PA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near New Castle, PA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In New Castle, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Oakwood, New Castle Northwest, Bessemer, New Beaver, Lowellville, New Middletown.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 40.9888, -80.3863. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence County, PA | 4 km (3 mi) | E | earthquakes near Lawrence County |
| Mahoning County, OH | 32 km (20 mi) | W | earthquakes near Mahoning County |
| Beaver County, PA | 34 km (21 mi) | S | earthquakes near Beaver County |
| Mercer County, PA | 36 km (23 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Mercer County |
| Butler County, PA | 40 km (25 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Butler County |
| Columbiana County, OH | 41 km (25 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Columbiana County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
5 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 5 km ENE of Orangeville, Ohio
- 1.8 5 km NNE of Columbiana, Ohio
- 1.9 3 km NE of Bessemer, Pennsylvania
- 2.1 4 km NE of Bessemer, Pennsylvania
- 1.9 2 km ESE of Lowellville, Ohio
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.