Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1md
Earthquake near Mount Carmel, IL
No earthquake was likely felt in Mount Carmel in the 24 hours to 3:54 am CST (09:54 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 3.1 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) west of Mount Carmel, IL, at 11:15 pm CDT on 8 September 2017 (04:15 UTC), 12 km deep. 136 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4 km N of Bellmont, Illinois
59 km (37 mi) NW of Evansville, IN
- When
- 11:15 pm CDT on 8 September 2017 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) west of Mount Carmel, IL · earthquakes near Mount Carmel
- Illinois today
- every earthquake in Illinois in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 136 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Wabash County, 7 km ENE
- 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 3239 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Mount Carmel, IL
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Mount Carmel, 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 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 76 km (47 mi) from the epicentre. In Mount Carmel, 13 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Albion, Grayville, Owensville.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 290,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 13,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.2× more
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:
- 5.2 2 km ESE of Claremont, Illinois · 32 km N of this epicentre
- 5.2 7 km NNE of Bellmont, Illinois · 4 km NE 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 38.4250, -87.9130. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wabash County, IL | 7 km (4 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Wabash County |
| Edwards County, IL | 12 km (7 mi) | W | earthquakes near Edwards County |
| Gibson County, IN | 31 km (19 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Gibson County |
| Richland County, IL | 35 km (22 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Richland County |
| Lawrence County, IL | 36 km (23 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lawrence County |
| White County, IL | 44 km (27 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near White County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
13 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.5 6 km NE of West Salem, Illinois
- 2.1 5 km WNW of Grayville, Illinois
- 2.6 2 km ESE of Cynthiana, Indiana
- 2.4 7 km NE of Mount Carmel, Illinois
- 2.1 4 km NW of Bone Gap, Illinois
- 2.7 9 km E of Parkersburg, Illinois
- 2.3 4 km E of Lawrenceville, Illinois
- 2.1 4 km E of Lawrenceville, Illinois
- 2.3 4 km E of Lawrenceville, Illinois
- 2.5 4 km ESE of Parkersburg, Illinois
- 2.6 3 km SE of Springerton, Illinois
- 2.2 1 km E of Parkersburg, Illinois
- 3.8 4 km N of Bellmont, 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.