QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Jonesboro, AR

USGS: 9 km NNW of Cherry Valley, Arkansas

86 km (54 mi) WNW of Memphis, TN · 40 km (25 mi) SSW of Jonesboro, AR

9:12 am CST, Feb 6, 2016 · · 13 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Poinsett County 16 kmCross County 21 kmJackson County 40 kmCraighead County 42 kmSt. Francis County 50 kmWoodruff County 51 kmCrittenden County 55 kmLawrence County 68 kmIndependence County 74 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
9:12 am CST on 6 February 2016 ()
Where
42 km (26 mi) SSW of Jonesboro, AR · earthquakes near Jonesboro
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Poinsett County, 16 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Reelfoot scarp and New Madrid seismic zone, 15 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 3891 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) SSW of Jonesboro, AR, at 9:12 am CST on 6 February 2016 (15:12 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Harrisburg, Wynne.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 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 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 35.4745, -90.8075. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Poinsett County, AR 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Poinsett County
Cross County, AR 21 km (13 mi) S earthquakes near Cross County
Jackson County, AR 40 km (25 mi) WNW earthquakes near Jackson County
Craighead County, AR 42 km (26 mi) NNE earthquakes near Craighead County
St. Francis County, AR 50 km (31 mi) S earthquakes near St. Francis County
Woodruff County, AR 51 km (31 mi) SW earthquakes near Woodruff County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 7 km WSW of Marked Tree, Arkansas
  2. 1.8 9 km S of Trumann, Arkansas
  3. 2.3 2 km WSW of Lake City, Arkansas
  4. 1.6 4 km W of Marked Tree, Arkansas
  5. 1.9 7 km NW of Lepanto, Arkansas
  6. 2.0 9 km NE of Grubbs, Arkansas
  7. 2.0 8 km W of Lepanto, Arkansas
  8. 1.9 1 km S of Cherry Valley, Arkansas
  9. 1.7 6 km NW of Lepanto, Arkansas
  10. 2.0 Arkansas
  11. 1.6 6 km NW of Lepanto, Arkansas
  12. 1.7 8 km NNW of Lepanto, Arkansas
  13. 1.7 5 km NNW of Lepanto, Arkansas
  14. 1.5 8 km WNW of Lepanto, Arkansas
  15. 1.7 7 km NNW of Lepanto, 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.