Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Illinois-Kentucky border region
Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in the Illinois-Kentucky border region, at 7:58 pm CDT on 4 September 2023 (00:58 UTC), 15 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity I
- Nearest
- Ballard County, 3 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- St. Louis-Cape Girardeau liquefaction features, 19 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 1164 days ago
Earthquake alerts for La Center, KY
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near La Center, KY. 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: La Center, Cairo, Metropolis, Massac.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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.
Where
Epicentre 37.0412, -88.9762. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballard County, KY | 3 km (2 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ballard County |
| Carlisle County, KY | 20 km (13 mi) | S | earthquakes near Carlisle County |
| McCracken County, KY | 23 km (15 mi) | E | earthquakes near McCracken County |
| Pulaski County, IL | 24 km (15 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Pulaski County |
| Massac County, IL | 31 km (19 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Massac County |
| Alexander County, IL | 37 km (23 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Alexander 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.
- 2.5 6 km NW of Massac, Kentucky
- 1.8 6 km S of Bertrand, Missouri
- 1.7 5 km SSE of Bertrand, Missouri
- 1.9 3 km SSE of Pinhook, Missouri
- 2.0 3 km NE of Ullin, Illinois
- 2.4 2 km NNE of Wilson City, Missouri
- 2.3 5 km SSW of Charleston, Missouri
- 1.6 3 km WNW of Mill Creek, Illinois
- 1.9 5 km ENE of Kevil, Kentucky
- 2.1 1 km WSW of Mill Creek, Illinois
- 1.9 4 km SSE of Bertrand, Missouri
- 2.2 4 km ENE of Olmsted, Illinois
- 1.9 3 km SE of Bertrand, 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
- 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.