QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Lawrenceville, IL

No earthquake was likely felt in Lawrenceville in the 24 hours to 4:31 am CST (10:31 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 30 km (19 mi) SW, at 2:05 am CDT on 29 June 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 392 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lawrenceville

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east of Lawrenceville, IL, at 12:25 pm CDT on 17 August 2023 (17:25 UTC), 4.2 km deep. 26 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km E of Lawrenceville, Illinois

82 km (51 mi) N of Evansville, IN

12:25 pm CDT, Aug 17, 2023 · · 4.2 km deep · released about 94 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lawrence County 9 kmKnox County 19 kmCrawford County 33 kmWabash County 36 kmRichland County 40 kmSullivan County 45 kmGibson County 45 kmDaviess County 48 kmEdwards County 50 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
12:25 pm CDT on 17 August 2023 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) east of Lawrenceville, IL · earthquakes near Lawrenceville
Illinois today
every earthquake in Illinois in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
4.2 km below the surface
Felt
26 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Lawrence County, 9 km W
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 1111 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 38 km (24 mi) from the epicentre. In Lawrenceville, 5 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: Vincennes, Bridgeport, Sumner, Bicknell.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 94 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 160,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 94 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 · 28 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 7 km NNE of Bellmont, Illinois · 38 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 38.7238, -87.6298. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lawrence County, IL 9 km (5 mi) W earthquakes near Lawrence County
Knox County, IN 19 km (12 mi) ESE earthquakes near Knox County
Crawford County, IL 33 km (21 mi) NNW earthquakes near Crawford County
Wabash County, IL 36 km (22 mi) SSW earthquakes near Wabash County
Richland County, IL 40 km (25 mi) W earthquakes near Richland County
Sullivan County, IN 45 km (28 mi) NNE earthquakes near Sullivan County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.5 6 km NE of West Salem, Illinois
  2. 2.4 7 km NE of Mount Carmel, Illinois
  3. 2.1 4 km NW of Bone Gap, Illinois
  4. 2.7 9 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.