Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9md
Earthquake near Covington, TN
No earthquake was likely felt in Covington in the 24 hours to 3:50 am CST (09:50 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 57 km (35 mi) NNW, at 12:59 pm CDT on 23 April 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 913 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Covington
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) north-northwest of Covington, TN, at 7:10 am CDT on 11 October 2023 (12:10 UTC), 12 km deep. 40 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10 km W of Henning, Tennessee
67 km (41 mi) NNE of Memphis, TN · 49 km (31 mi) NNE of Bartlett, TN
- When
- 7:10 am CDT on 11 October 2023 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) north-northwest of Covington, TN · earthquakes near Covington
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (md)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 40 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Lauderdale County, 12 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Reelfoot scarp and New Madrid seismic zone, 21 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 1050 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Covington, TN
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Covington, TN. 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 64 km (40 mi) from the epicentre. In Covington, 11 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.
Likely felt in: Blytheville 36 km, intensity II · Steele 49 km, intensity II · Dyersburg 49 km, intensity II · Manila 50 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 590 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 26,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 18,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.6× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 590 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 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 35.6627, -89.6853. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lauderdale County, TN | 12 km (8 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Lauderdale County |
| Tipton County, TN | 19 km (12 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Tipton County |
| Mississippi County, AR | 35 km (22 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mississippi County |
| Haywood County, TN | 37 km (23 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Haywood County |
| Dyer County, TN | 51 km (31 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Dyer County |
| Crockett County, TN | 53 km (33 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Crockett County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 3 km ENE of Dell, Arkansas
- 2.2 6 km NNE of Dell, Arkansas
- 2.1 4 km E of Steele, Missouri
- 2.9 4 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
- 2.5 5 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
- 2.1 6 km ENE of Steele, Missouri
- 2.2 5 km ENE of Dell, Arkansas
- 3.1 3 km SW of Blytheville, Arkansas
- 2.6 3 km SW of Blytheville, Arkansas
- 2.0 4 km S of Holland, Missouri
- 1.8 5 km NNE of Blytheville, Arkansas
- 2.1 1 km W of Cooter, Missouri
- 1.7 9 km WSW of Dyersburg, Tennessee
- 2.0 2 km SE of Dell, Arkansas
- 2.3 6 km ENE of Steele, 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.