Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Ranson, WV
No earthquake was likely felt in Ranson in the 24 hours to 5:35 am EST (10:35 UTC). The last one was M 4.8, 307 km (191 mi) ENE, at 10:23 am EDT on 5 April 2024, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 184,673 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ranson
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) northeast of Ranson, WV, at 2:12 pm EST on 17 January 2016 (19:12 UTC), 4.7 km deep.
USGS: 3 km NE of Ranson, West Virginia
84 km (52 mi) WNW of Washington, DC · 38 km (23 mi) WSW of Frederick, MD
- When
- 2:12 pm EST on 17 January 2016 ()
- Where
- 4 km (2 mi) northeast of Ranson, WV · earthquakes near Ranson
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Jefferson County, 3 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2008 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ranson, WV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ranson, WV. 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 75 km (47 mi) from the epicentre. In Ranson, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Charles Town, Bolivar, Shannondale, Shepherdstown, Brunswick, Lovettsville.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 320,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 39.3193, -77.8283. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, WV | 3 km (2 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Berkeley County, WV | 23 km (14 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Berkeley County |
| Clarke County, VA | 27 km (17 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Clarke County |
| Loudoun County, VA | 31 km (19 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Loudoun County |
| Washington County, MD | 32 km (20 mi) | N | earthquakes near Washington County |
| Winchester city, VA | 34 km (21 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Winchester city |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.