QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

9 km WSW of Forest, Virginia

· 8.1 km deep · released about 91 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Bedford County 12 kmLynchburg city 19 kmCampbell County 30 kmAmherst County 39 kmBotetourt County 43 kmBuena Vista city 43 kmLexington city 49 kmRoanoke city 50 kmAppomattox County 52 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
8.1 km below the surface
Felt
52 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Bedford County, 12 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1622 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 52 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 91 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 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 91 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 37.3397, -79.3980. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Bedford County, VA 12 km (7 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Bedford County
Lynchburg city, VA 19 km (12 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Lynchburg city
Campbell County, VA 30 km (19 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Campbell County
Amherst County, VA 39 km (24 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Amherst County
Botetourt County, VA 43 km (27 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Botetourt County
Buena Vista city, VA 43 km (27 mi) S of here earthquakes near Buena Vista city

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

Aftershocks so far

1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.1 6 km NNW of Appomattox, 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.