QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Covington, TN

No earthquake was likely felt in Covington in the 24 hours to 9:26 am CST (15:26 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 57 km (35 mi) NNW, at 12:59 pm CDT on 23 April 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 913 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Covington

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) northwest of Covington, TN, at 4:00 am CST on 29 November 2016 (10:00 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 10 km N of Garland, Tennessee

66 km (41 mi) NNE of Memphis, TN · 50 km (31 mi) N of Bartlett, TN

4:00 am CST, Nov 29, 2016 · · 12 km deep · released about 190 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lauderdale County 15 kmTipton County 21 kmMississippi County 27 kmHaywood County 45 kmDyer County 53 kmShelby County 57 kmPemiscot County 59 kmDunklin County 59 kmCrockett County 59 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
4:00 am CST on 29 November 2016 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) northwest of Covington, TN · earthquakes near Covington
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lauderdale County, 15 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Reelfoot scarp and New Madrid seismic zone, 14 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 3549 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. In Covington, 17 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Blytheville 30 km, intensity II · Manila 42 km, intensity II · Steele 45 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 190 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 78,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 55,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 190 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 35.6838, -89.7655. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lauderdale County, TN 15 km (9 mi) NE earthquakes near Lauderdale County
Tipton County, TN 21 km (13 mi) S earthquakes near Tipton County
Mississippi County, AR 27 km (17 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mississippi County
Haywood County, TN 45 km (28 mi) ESE earthquakes near Haywood County
Dyer County, TN 53 km (33 mi) NE earthquakes near Dyer County
Shelby County, TN 57 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Shelby County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 3 km E of Steele, Missouri
  2. 2.1 2 km ENE of Dell, Arkansas
  3. 2.3 4 km N of Blytheville, Arkansas
  4. 2.0 7 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
  5. 1.9 1 km W of Gosnell, Arkansas
  6. 2.2 southeastern Missouri
  7. 1.8 2 km NNE of Cooter, Missouri
  8. 2.7 7 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
  9. 1.8 7 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
  10. 2.2 5 km N of Blytheville, Arkansas
  11. 1.9 9 km SW of Caruthersville, Missouri
  12. 1.7 7 km ENE of Etowah, Arkansas
  13. 2.0 7 km ENE of Etowah, Arkansas
  14. 2.3 6 km ENE of Etowah, Arkansas
  15. 2.1 10 km W of Henning, Tennessee

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.