Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3md
Earthquake near Festus, MO
No earthquake was likely felt in Festus in the 24 hours to 5:14 am CST (11:14 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 216 km (134 mi) E, at 2:05 am CDT on 29 June 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 392 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Festus
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) east-southeast of Festus, MO, at 9:56 am CDT on 24 June 2016 (14:56 UTC), 16 km deep.
USGS: 1 km SSE of Fults, Illinois
53 km (33 mi) S of St. Louis, MO
- When
- 9:56 am CDT on 24 June 2016 ()
- Where
- 18 km (11 mi) east-southeast of Festus, MO · earthquakes near Festus
- Illinois today
- every earthquake in Illinois in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (md)
- Depth
- 16 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Monroe County, 14 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- St. Louis-Cape Girardeau liquefaction features, under 1 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 3792 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Festus, MO
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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 34 km (21 mi) from the epicentre. In Festus, 18 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: Crystal City, Valmeyer, Herculaneum, Red Bud, Waterloo, Pevely.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.1 Southwestern Illinois · 6 km S 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 38.1575, -90.2097. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe County, IL | 14 km (8 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Monroe County |
| Ste. Genevieve County, MO | 30 km (19 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ste. Genevieve County |
| Jefferson County, MO | 31 km (19 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Randolph County, IL | 36 km (22 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Randolph County |
| St. Clair County, IL | 43 km (26 mi) | NE | earthquakes near St. Clair County |
| St. Francois County, MO | 45 km (28 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near St. Francois 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.
- 2.0 14 km SSE of Weingarten, Missouri
- 2.0 6 km SSW of Valmeyer, Illinois
- 2.2 15 km SW of Ozora, Missouri
- 2.4 3 km ESE of Fenton, Missouri
- 1.7 3 km WNW of Olympian Village, Missouri
- 2.3 4 km S of Valmeyer, Illinois
- 2.4 8 km SW of Ozora, Missouri
- 2.3 4 km E of Herculaneum, Missouri
- 1.9 5 km NW of Weingarten, Missouri
- 2.5 eastern Missouri
- 2.2 4 km E of Bonne Terre, Missouri
- 2.2 5 km NNE of Terre du Lac, Missouri
- 1.9 5 km W of Terre du Lac, Missouri
- 2.2 6 km E of Ellis Grove, Illinois
- 2.8 1 km SSW of Peerless Park, 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.