QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.8mw

4 km N of Bellmont, Illinois

· 12 km deep · released about 7.6 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Wabash County 7 kmEdwards County 12 kmGibson County 31 kmRichland County 36 kmLawrence County 36 kmWhite County 44 kmPosey County 44 kmWayne County 46 kmKnox County 52 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
Magnitude
M 3.8 (mw)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
1489 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Wabash County, 7 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2397 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 1489 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.8 about 7.6 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 16× 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.

Where

Epicentre 38.4238, -87.9098. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Wabash County, IL 7 km (4 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Wabash County
Edwards County, IL 12 km (7 mi) E of here earthquakes near Edwards County
Gibson County, IN 31 km (19 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Gibson County
Richland County, IL 36 km (22 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Richland County
Lawrence County, IL 36 km (23 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Lawrence County
White County, IL 44 km (27 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near White County

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

Aftershocks so far

12 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. 2.6 3 km SE of Springerton, Illinois
  12. 2.2 1 km E of Parkersburg, 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.