QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

1 km SW of Nickelsville, Virginia

· 1.2 km deep · released about 72 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Scott County 17 kmNorton city 27 kmBristol city 28 kmSullivan County 28 kmWise County 31 kmRussell County 36 kmWashington County 43 kmDickenson County 44 kmWashington 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
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
1.2 km below the surface
Felt
22 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Scott County, 17 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2682 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 22 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 72 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 5.8 210,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150,000× 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 72 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 36.7432, -82.4282. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Scott County, VA 17 km (10 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Scott County
Norton city, VA 27 km (17 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Norton city
Bristol city, VA 28 km (17 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Bristol city
Sullivan County, TN 28 km (18 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Sullivan County
Wise County, VA 31 km (19 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Wise County
Russell County, VA 36 km (23 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Russell County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 5 km NE of Clinchport, Virginia
  2. 1.9 1 km SW of Fall Branch, Tennessee
  3. 2.6 9 km SSW of Abingdon, Virginia
  4. 2.4 3 km NE of Dante, Virginia
  5. 1.9 6 km ENE of Surgoinsville, Tennessee
  6. 2.0 4 km SE of Coeburn, 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.