Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0md
Earthquake near Belleville, IL
No earthquake was likely felt in Belleville in the 24 hours to 7:02 am CST (13:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 176 km (109 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 Belleville
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) east-southeast of Belleville, IL, at 8:26 pm CDT on 24 September 2021 (01:26 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 4 km NNW of Venedy, Illinois
55 km (34 mi) ESE of St. Louis, MO
- When
- 8:26 pm CDT on 24 September 2021 ()
- Where
- 29 km (18 mi) east-southeast of Belleville, IL · earthquakes near Belleville
- Illinois today
- every earthquake in Illinois in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (md)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- St. Clair County, 23 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Wabash Valley 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 1873 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Belleville, IL
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Belleville, IL. 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 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 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Belleville, 29 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: Okawville, New Baden, Mascoutah, Albers, Germantown, Trenton.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 36 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 420,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 27× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 36 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 38.4300, -89.6660. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Clair County, IL | 23 km (14 mi) | W | earthquakes near St. Clair County |
| Washington County, IL | 23 km (14 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Washington County |
| Clinton County, IL | 29 km (18 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Clinton County |
| Randolph County, IL | 44 km (27 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Randolph County |
| Perry County, IL | 46 km (29 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Perry County |
| Monroe County, IL | 48 km (30 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Monroe County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
5 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 8 km WNW of Keyesport, Illinois
- 2.4 1 km SSW of O'Fallon, Illinois
- 2.8 1 km NNE of Germantown, Illinois
- 2.5 6 km ENE of Pinckneyville, Illinois
- 2.2 6 km E of Ellis Grove, Illinois
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.