Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Baltimore, MD
No earthquake was likely felt in Baltimore in the 24 hours to 4:57 am EST (09:57 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 23 km (14 mi) WSW, at 5:17 pm EDT on 27 October 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,228 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Baltimore
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 38 km (23 mi) west of Baltimore, MD, at 8:34 pm EDT on 29 October 2017 (00:34 UTC), 2.0 km deep.
USGS: 10 km NE of Laytonsville, Maryland
42 km (26 mi) N of Washington, DC · 19 km (12 mi) NE of Gaithersburg, MD
- When
- 8:34 pm EDT on 29 October 2017 ()
- Where
- 38 km (23 mi) west of Baltimore, MD · earthquakes near Baltimore
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Howard County, 11 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2008 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Baltimore, MD
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Baltimore, MD. 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Baltimore, 38 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Sykesville, Damascus, Highland, Mount Airy, Olney, Ashton-Sandy Spring.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 39.2795, -77.0512. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howard County, MD | 11 km (7 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Howard County |
| Montgomery County, MD | 21 km (13 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Montgomery County |
| Carroll County, MD | 32 km (20 mi) | N | earthquakes near Carroll County |
| Frederick County, MD | 37 km (23 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Frederick County |
| Baltimore city, MD | 38 km (24 mi) | E | earthquakes near Baltimore city |
| Baltimore County, MD | 42 km (26 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Baltimore County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
8 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 4 km E of Riverside, Maryland
- 1.8 1 km NE of Spencerville, Maryland
- 2.3 0 km WSW of Rockville, Maryland
- 2.0 4 km ESE of Sykesville, Maryland
- 1.7 0 km S of Woodlawn, Maryland
- 2.1 Clarksville, Maryland
- 1.6 1 km NNW of Irvington, Maryland
- 2.6 2 km SE of Woodlawn, Maryland
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.