QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

0 km SSE of Columbia, Virginia

· 5.3 km deep · released about 74 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Fluvanna County 14 kmGoochland County 22 kmCumberland County 26 kmPowhatan County 31 kmLouisa County 31 kmBuckingham County 38 kmCharlottesville city 43 kmAlbemarle County 46 kmAmelia County 49 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
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
5.3 km below the surface
Felt
34 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Fluvanna County, 14 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2882 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 34 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 74 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 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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 37.7452, -78.1598. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Fluvanna County, VA 14 km (9 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Fluvanna County
Goochland County, VA 22 km (13 mi) W of here earthquakes near Goochland County
Cumberland County, VA 26 km (16 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Cumberland County
Powhatan County, VA 31 km (19 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Powhatan County
Louisa County, VA 31 km (19 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Louisa County
Buckingham County, VA 38 km (23 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Buckingham County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 8 km S of Dillwyn, Virginia
  2. 1.6 3 km SW of Wyndham, Virginia
  3. 1.8 9 km S of Louisa, Virginia
  4. 2.3 18 km ENE of Cumberland, Virginia
  5. 2.2 Virginia
  6. 1.6 16 km S of Louisa, Virginia
  7. 2.3 15 km S of Louisa, Virginia
  8. 2.3 16 km S of Louisa, Virginia
  9. 2.3 2 km WSW of Columbia, Virginia
  10. 1.8 9 km S of Louisa, Virginia
  11. 1.9 2 km N of Dillwyn, Virginia
  12. 2.2 8 km ENE of Cumberland, Virginia
  13. 2.0 13 km SW of Goochland, Virginia
  14. 2.7 10 km S of Louisa, Virginia
  15. 1.8 11 km E of Goochland, Virginia

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.