QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Lilbourn, MO

USGS: 3 km NW of Marston, Missouri

11:23 pm CDT, Oct 9, 2016 · · 9.1 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N New Madrid County 6 kmLake County 27 kmPemiscot County 39 kmFulton County 41 kmStoddard County 44 kmMississippi County 45 kmObion County 49 kmDunklin County 57 kmScott County 57 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
11:23 pm CDT on 9 October 2016 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) SSW of Lilbourn, MO · earthquakes near Lilbourn
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
9.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
New Madrid County, 6 km N
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 3645 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) SSW of Lilbourn, MO, at 11:23 pm CDT on 9 October 2016 (04:23 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: New Madrid, Portageville, Tiptonville, Gideon, Malden.

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 36.5388, -89.6445. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
New Madrid County, MO 6 km (4 mi) N earthquakes near New Madrid County
Lake County, TN 27 km (17 mi) SSE earthquakes near Lake County
Pemiscot County, MO 39 km (24 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pemiscot County
Fulton County, KY 41 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near Fulton County
Stoddard County, MO 44 km (27 mi) NW earthquakes near Stoddard County
Mississippi County, MO 45 km (28 mi) NE earthquakes near Mississippi 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.

  1. 2.1 8 km NE of North Lilbourn, Missouri
  2. 1.7 5 km E of Matthews, Missouri
  3. 1.6 2 km W of Ridgely, Tennessee
  4. 1.9 2 km NW of Ridgely, Tennessee
  5. 1.5 1 km NNE of Marston, Missouri
  6. 2.5 7 km NW of Ridgely, Tennessee
  7. 1.8 southeastern Missouri
  8. 1.8 3 km NW of Marston, Missouri
  9. 1.6 4 km NW of Tiptonville, Tennessee
  10. 2.0 5 km NW of Marston, Missouri
  11. 1.9 2 km NNE of Marston, Missouri
  12. 1.7 4 km NW of Marston, Missouri
  13. 2.5 6 km WSW of Ridgely, Tennessee
  14. 1.7 3 km WNW of Marston, Missouri
  15. 1.6 2 km S of Howardville, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.