Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Flemingsburg, KY
No earthquake was likely felt in Flemingsburg in the 24 hours to 3:39 pm EST (20:39 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 106 km (66 mi) SW, at 12:47 pm EST on 28 December 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 405 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Flemingsburg
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Flemingsburg, KY, at 5:06 am EST on 27 November 2020 (10:06 UTC), 24 km deep.
USGS: 13 km ESE of Flemingsburg, Kentucky
85 km (53 mi) ENE of Lexington-Fayette, KY
- When
- 5:06 am EST on 27 November 2020 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Flemingsburg, KY · earthquakes near Flemingsburg
- Kentucky today
- every earthquake in Kentucky in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 24 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Fleming County, 9 km W
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2171 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Flemingsburg, KY
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Flemingsburg, 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. In Flemingsburg, 13 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.0 2 km SW of Sharpsburg, Kentucky · 38 km SW of this epicentre
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 38.3830, -83.5920. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fleming County, KY | 9 km (6 mi) | W | earthquakes near Fleming County |
| Rowan County, KY | 24 km (15 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Rowan County |
| Lewis County, KY | 26 km (16 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Lewis County |
| Bath County, KY | 29 km (18 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Bath County |
| Mason County, KY | 31 km (19 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mason County |
| Nicholas County, KY | 38 km (24 mi) | W | earthquakes near Nicholas County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
12 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 15 km E of Flemingsburg, Kentucky
- 2.2 2 km SSE of Concord, Kentucky
- 2.2 7 km WSW of Vanceburg, Kentucky
- 2.4 8 km SSE of Flemingsburg, Kentucky
- 2.4 9 km NW of Olive Hill, Kentucky
- 2.2 3 km SSW of Bentonville, Ohio
- 2.3 5 km WNW of Sandy Hook, Kentucky
- 2.5 3 km SW of Old Washington, Kentucky
- 2.2 20 km SSW of Vanceburg, Kentucky
- 2.1 3 km SE of Ripley, Ohio
- 3.0 2 km E of Manchester, Ohio
- 2.1 10 km S of Concord, Kentucky
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.