QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Mount Carmel, IL

No earthquake was likely felt in Mount Carmel in the 24 hours to 5:12 am CST (11:12 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 24 km (15 mi) NW, at 2:05 am CDT on 29 June 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 392 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Mount Carmel

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) northwest of Mount Carmel, IL, at 2:23 am CDT on 11 August 2016 (07:23 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 11 km NW of Mount Carmel, Illinois

62 km (39 mi) NNW of Evansville, IN

2:23 am CDT, Aug 11, 2016 · · 18 km deep · released about 160 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Wabash County 5 kmEdwards County 19 kmLawrence County 28 kmGibson County 30 kmRichland County 32 kmKnox County 44 kmWayne County 51 kmPosey County 51 kmWhite County 53 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
2:23 am CDT on 11 August 2016 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) northwest of Mount Carmel, IL · earthquakes near Mount Carmel
Illinois today
every earthquake in Illinois in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Wabash County, 5 km SSE
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 3668 days ago

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 42 km (26 mi) from the epicentre. In Mount Carmel, 11 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: Albion, Sumner, Bridgeport, Owensville, Grayville, Princeton.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 160 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 95,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 68,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 160 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 lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 2 km ESE of Claremont, Illinois · 26 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 7 km NNE of Bellmont, Illinois · 5 km SW of this epicentre

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 38.4865, -87.8512. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Wabash County, IL 5 km (3 mi) SSE earthquakes near Wabash County
Edwards County, IL 19 km (12 mi) WSW earthquakes near Edwards County
Lawrence County, IL 28 km (17 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lawrence County
Gibson County, IN 30 km (19 mi) SE earthquakes near Gibson County
Richland County, IL 32 km (20 mi) NW earthquakes near Richland County
Knox County, IN 44 km (27 mi) ENE earthquakes near Knox County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.5 6 km NE of West Salem, Illinois
  2. 2.1 5 km WNW of Grayville, Illinois
  3. 2.6 2 km ESE of Cynthiana, Indiana
  4. 2.4 7 km NE of Mount Carmel, Illinois
  5. 2.1 4 km NW of Bone Gap, Illinois
  6. 2.7 9 km E of Parkersburg, Illinois
  7. 2.3 4 km E of Lawrenceville, Illinois
  8. 2.1 4 km E of Lawrenceville, Illinois
  9. 2.3 4 km E of Lawrenceville, Illinois
  10. 2.5 4 km ESE of Parkersburg, Illinois
  11. 2.2 1 km E of Parkersburg, Illinois
  12. 3.8 4 km N of Bellmont, Illinois
  13. 3.1 4 km N of Bellmont, Illinois
  14. 2.2 4 km S of Grayville, 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

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