8 km ENE of Natural Bridge, Alabama

2016-01-15 01:38 UTC · 5.0 km deep · released about 260 lb of TNT

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: 2016-01-15 01:38 UTC
Magnitude: M 2.6 (md)
Depth: 5.0 km below the surface
Felt: 3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest: Winston County, 15 km ENE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 1517 days ago · we first saw it 1517 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 260 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 59,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 34.1260, -87.5210. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction
Winston County, AL	15 km (9 mi)	WSW of here	earthquakes near Winston County
Marion County, AL	33 km (21 mi)	E of here	earthquakes near Marion County
Walker County, AL	42 km (26 mi)	NNW of here	earthquakes near Walker County
Franklin County, AL	46 km (29 mi)	SE of here	earthquakes near Franklin County
Lawrence County, AL	48 km (30 mi)	SSW of here	earthquakes near Lawrence County
Fayette County, AL	51 km (32 mi)	NNE of here	earthquakes near Fayette County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

2.3 5 km NW of Addison, Alabama 02:59 UTC
2.4 6 km NW of Addison, Alabama 02:17 UTC
2.4 4 km WNW of Sipsey, Alabama 04:00 UTC
2.3 13 km N of Double Springs, Alabama 11:00 UTC
2.9 4 km NNW of Berry, Alabama 17:16 UTC
2.5 13 km S of Moulton, Alabama 20:24 UTC
2.0 4 km NNE of Winfield, Alabama 09:05 UTC
2.3 7 km SE of Haleyville, Alabama 01:42 UTC
2.0 2 km N of Spruce Pine, Alabama 07:23 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 09:28 UTC. 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.