Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Steele, MO
No earthquake was likely felt in Steele in the 24 hours to 10:46 am CST (16:46 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 10 km (6 mi) SSW, at 8:56 pm CDT on 17 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Steele
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) south of Steele, MO, at 3:22 am CDT on 26 September 2021 (08:22 UTC), 9.8 km deep.
USGS: 1 km W of Cooter, Missouri
- When
- 3:22 am CDT on 26 September 2021 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) south of Steele, MO · earthquakes near Steele
- Missouri today
- every earthquake in Missouri in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 9.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Pemiscot County, 19 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Reelfoot scarp and New Madrid seismic zone, 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 1855 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Steele, MO
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Steele, MO. 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Steele, 4 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: Blytheville, Gosnell, Hayti, Caruthersville, Kennett.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 36.0447, -89.8315. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pemiscot County, MO | 19 km (12 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Pemiscot County |
| Dunklin County, MO | 24 km (15 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Dunklin County |
| Lauderdale County, TN | 36 km (23 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Lauderdale County |
| Mississippi County, AR | 37 km (23 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Mississippi County |
| Dyer County, TN | 39 km (24 mi) | E | earthquakes near Dyer County |
| Lake County, TN | 45 km (28 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Lake County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 4 km SSW of Caruthersville, Missouri
- 2.0 1 km W of Cooter, Missouri
- 1.5 2 km N of Etowah, Arkansas
- 2.2 4 km NNE of Manila, Arkansas
- 1.6 3 km SW of Caruthersville, Missouri
- 1.9 5 km E of Steele, Missouri
- 1.5 1 km NE of Ridgely, Tennessee
- 1.6 6 km NW of Ridgely, Tennessee
- 1.9 2 km E of Steele, Missouri
- 1.6 5 km SW of Tiptonville, Tennessee
- 2.4 4 km NNW of Ridgely, Tennessee
- 1.6 7 km S of Ridgely, Tennessee
- 1.8 5 km SE of Ridgely, Tennessee
- 1.8 Tennessee
- 1.7 6 km E of Hayward, 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.