QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Cherokee Village, AR

USGS: 3 km W of Smithville, Arkansas

3:35 am CST, Jan 21, 2020 · · 1.9 km deep · released about 37 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cherokee Village Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sharp County 16 kmLawrence County 22 kmRandolph County 40 kmIndependence County 43 kmIzard County 52 kmFulton County 55 kmJackson County 55 kmOregon County 67 kmGreene County 70 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
3:35 am CST on 21 January 2020 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) SSE of Cherokee Village, AR · earthquakes near Cherokee Village
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
1.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sharp County, 16 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2447 days ago

A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) SSE of Cherokee Village, AR, at 3:35 am CST on 21 January 2020 (09:35 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Cave City, Highland, Ash Flat.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 36.0808, -91.3387. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sharp County, AR 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Sharp County
Lawrence County, AR 22 km (14 mi) ESE earthquakes near Lawrence County
Randolph County, AR 40 km (25 mi) NE earthquakes near Randolph County
Independence County, AR 43 km (27 mi) SSW earthquakes near Independence County
Izard County, AR 52 km (32 mi) W earthquakes near Izard County
Fulton County, AR 55 km (34 mi) NW earthquakes near Fulton County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 6 km N of Black Rock, Arkansas
  2. 2.2 10 km W of Maynard, Arkansas
  3. 2.0 6 km NE of Ravenden Springs, Arkansas
  4. 2.0 6 km NNW of Black Rock, Arkansas
  5. 2.1 5 km SE of Ash Flat, Arkansas
  6. 2.3 9 km NNW of Cherokee Village, Arkansas
  7. 1.9 13 km SE of Cave City, Arkansas
  8. 1.5 4 km NE of Black Rock, Arkansas
  9. 1.7 3 km WNW of Powhatan, Arkansas
  10. 1.6 5 km N of Black Rock, Arkansas
  11. 1.8 4 km WNW of Powhatan, Arkansas
  12. 2.1 4 km NW of Mount Pleasant, Arkansas
  13. 2.3 Missouri-Arkansas border region
  14. 2.1 5 km N of Black Rock, Arkansas
  15. 2.1 12 km ESE of Mammoth Spring, Arkansas

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.