QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5md

Earthquake near Poplar Bluff, MO

USGS: 10 km S of Williamsville, Missouri

9:40 pm CST, Nov 17, 2021 · · 16 km deep · released about 190 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Poplar Bluff Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Butler County 22 kmWayne County 28 kmCarter County 35 kmRipley County 38 kmStoddard County 54 kmClay County 58 kmReynolds County 66 kmBollinger County 68 kmMadison County 70 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
9:40 pm CST on 17 November 2021 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) NW of Poplar Bluff, MO · earthquakes near Poplar Bluff
Magnitude
M 2.5 (md)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
119 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Butler County, 22 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1714 days ago

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) NW of Poplar Bluff, MO, at 9:40 pm CST on 17 November 2021 (03:40 UTC). 119 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

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 80,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 57,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.1× 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2021-11-18 — about 160 times the energy of this one.

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 36.8728, -90.5575. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Butler County, MO 22 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near Butler County
Wayne County, MO 28 km (17 mi) NNE earthquakes near Wayne County
Carter County, MO 35 km (22 mi) WNW earthquakes near Carter County
Ripley County, MO 38 km (23 mi) SW earthquakes near Ripley County
Stoddard County, MO 54 km (34 mi) E earthquakes near Stoddard County
Clay County, AR 58 km (36 mi) SSE earthquakes near Clay County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 14 km SE of Ellsinore, Missouri
  2. 2.1 12 km ENE of Greenville, Missouri
  3. 2.9 14 km SSW of Williamsville, Missouri
  4. 2.4 7 km W of Williamsville, Missouri
  5. 2.6 12 km E of Williamsville, Missouri
  6. 2.6 5 km SW of Puxico, Missouri
  7. 3.1 4 km S of Puxico, Missouri
  8. 2.9 12 km WSW of Grandin, Missouri
  9. 2.5 13 km SSW of Williamsville, Missouri
  10. 2.5 4 km E of Doniphan, Missouri
  11. 2.7 5 km E of Doniphan, Missouri
  12. 2.3 9 km ESE of Williamsville, Missouri
  13. 2.7 4 km ENE of Grandin, Missouri
  14. 2.4 13 km E of Williamsville, Missouri
  15. 3.2 10 km N of Van Buren, 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.