QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Batesville, AR

USGS: 3 km SW of Smithville, Arkansas

1:51 am CST, Jan 23, 2020 · · 4.9 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Batesville Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sharp County 17 kmLawrence County 21 kmRandolph County 41 kmIndependence County 42 kmIzard County 52 kmJackson County 53 kmFulton County 56 kmCraighead County 68 kmGreene County 69 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
1:51 am CST on 23 January 2020 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) NE of Batesville, AR · earthquakes near Batesville
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
4.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sharp County, 17 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2445 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) NE of Batesville, AR, at 1:51 am CST on 23 January 2020 (07:51 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

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

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 36.0650, -91.3315. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sharp County, AR 17 km (11 mi) NW earthquakes near Sharp County
Lawrence County, AR 21 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Lawrence County
Randolph County, AR 41 km (25 mi) NE earthquakes near Randolph County
Independence County, AR 42 km (26 mi) SSW earthquakes near Independence County
Izard County, AR 52 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near Izard County
Jackson County, AR 53 km (33 mi) S earthquakes near Jackson 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. 2.2 4 km SE of Ash Flat, Arkansas
  2. 2.1 3 km NW of Mount Pleasant, Arkansas
  3. 1.7 2 km W of Powhatan, Arkansas
  4. 2.2 6 km WNW of Powhatan, Arkansas
  5. 1.8 6 km N of Black Rock, Arkansas
  6. 2.2 10 km W of Maynard, Arkansas
  7. 2.0 6 km NE of Ravenden Springs, Arkansas
  8. 2.0 6 km NNW of Black Rock, Arkansas
  9. 2.1 5 km SE of Ash Flat, Arkansas
  10. 2.3 9 km NNW of Cherokee Village, Arkansas
  11. 1.9 13 km SE of Cave City, Arkansas
  12. 1.5 4 km NE of Black Rock, Arkansas
  13. 1.7 3 km WNW of Powhatan, Arkansas
  14. 1.6 5 km N of Black Rock, Arkansas
  15. 1.8 4 km WNW of Powhatan, 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.