Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.7md
Earthquake near Charleston, MO
No earthquake was likely felt in Charleston in the 24 hours to 10:07 am CST (16:07 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 220 km (137 mi) NNE, at 2:05 am CDT on 29 June 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 392 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Charleston
This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) east-southeast of Charleston, MO, at 6:13 pm CDT on 17 May 2016 (23:13 UTC), 6.3 km deep.
USGS: 10 km W of Bardwell, Kentucky
- When
- 6:13 pm CDT on 17 May 2016 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) east-southeast of Charleston, MO · earthquakes near Charleston
- Kentucky today
- every earthquake in Kentucky in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.7 (md)
- Depth
- 6.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Carlisle County, 13 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- Reelfoot scarp and New Madrid seismic zone, 4 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3764 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Charleston, MO
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Charleston, MO. 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 58 km (36 mi) from the epicentre. In Charleston, 21 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.
Likely felt in: Charleston 21 km, intensity III · East Prairie 25 km, intensity III · New Madrid 48 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 390 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 39,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 28,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.7 about 390 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 36.8652, -89.1220. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlisle County, KY | 13 km (8 mi) | E | earthquakes near Carlisle County |
| Mississippi County, MO | 16 km (10 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mississippi County |
| Ballard County, KY | 23 km (14 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Ballard County |
| Hickman County, KY | 25 km (15 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Hickman County |
| Fulton County, KY | 35 km (22 mi) | S | earthquakes near Fulton County |
| Pulaski County, IL | 39 km (24 mi) | N | earthquakes near Pulaski County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
15 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 4 km S of La Center, Kentucky
- 2.3 9 km N of New Madrid, Missouri
- 2.5 9 km W of Bardwell, Kentucky
- 2.8 9 km SSW of Wickliffe, Kentucky
- 2.7 9 km ESE of Wyatt, Missouri
- 1.8 5 km NNW of New Madrid, Missouri
- 1.7 6 km NNE of North Lilbourn, Missouri
- 1.8 7 km W of East Prairie, Missouri
- 1.6 7 km SSE of New Madrid, Missouri
- 2.0 7 km SSE of New Madrid, Missouri
- 2.8 8 km WNW of East Prairie, Missouri
- 1.6 10 km SE of New Madrid, Missouri
- 1.9 3 km W of Tamms, Illinois
- 2.2 9 km N of New Madrid, Missouri
- 2.5 9 km ESE of Wyatt, Missouri
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.