QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Massena, NY

USGS: 7 km NE of Brasher Falls, New York

6:51 pm EDT, Mar 21, 2018 · · 4.0 km deep · released about 20 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Massena Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Franklin County 44 kmSt. Lawrence County 50 kmClinton County 81 kmEssex County 112 kmGrand Isle County 112 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
6:51 pm EDT on 21 March 2018 ()
Where
15 km (10 mi) ESE of Massena, NY · earthquakes near Massena
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Franklin County, 44 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1968 days ago

A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 15 km (10 mi) ESE of Massena, NY, at 6:51 pm EDT on 21 March 2018 (22:51 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Fort Covington Hamlet, Norfolk, Norwood, Potsdam.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 20 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 760,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 540,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 48× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 20 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 lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 The 1944 Massena, New York Earthquake · 10 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 Near Cornwall, Ontario, Canada · 27 km NW of this epicentre

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 44.8595, -74.7232. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Franklin County, NY 44 km (27 mi) SE earthquakes near Franklin County
St. Lawrence County, NY 50 km (31 mi) SW earthquakes near St. Lawrence County
Clinton County, NY 81 km (50 mi) E earthquakes near Clinton County
Essex County, NY 112 km (70 mi) SE earthquakes near Essex County
Grand Isle County, VT 112 km (70 mi) E earthquakes near Grand Isle County
Lewis County, NY 133 km (82 mi) SSW earthquakes near Lewis County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

26 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.0 7 km NE of Potsdam, New York
  2. 1.6 5 km S of Fort Covington Hamlet, New York
  3. 1.6 6 km ESE of Fort Covington Hamlet, New York
  4. 1.6 1 km S of Massena, New York
  5. 2.2 8 km W of Saint Regis Falls, New York
  6. 2.5 6 km SSE of Fort Covington Hamlet, New York
  7. 1.8 6 km WNW of Huntingdon, Canada
  8. 2.1 8 km WNW of Huntingdon, Canada
  9. 3.1 6 km WNW of Huntingdon, Canada
  10. 2.8 8 km NNW of Canton, New York
  11. 1.9 8 km ESE of Fort Covington Hamlet, New York
  12. 1.6 Ontario-Quebec border region, Canada
  13. 2.1 7 km SW of Cornwall, Canada
  14. 2.2 9 km WNW of Massena, New York
  15. 1.7 New York

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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.