QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

15 km S of Louisa, Virginia

· 5.5 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Louisa County 11 kmGoochland County 22 kmFluvanna County 23 kmPowhatan County 39 kmOrange County 40 kmCharlottesville city 43 kmCumberland County 45 kmSpotsylvania County 47 kmAlbemarle County 48 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
5.5 km below the surface
Felt
36 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Louisa County, 11 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1512 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 36 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 85 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 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 37.8887, -78.0352. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Louisa County, VA 11 km (7 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Louisa County
Goochland County, VA 22 km (13 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Goochland County
Fluvanna County, VA 23 km (14 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Fluvanna County
Powhatan County, VA 39 km (24 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Powhatan County
Orange County, VA 40 km (25 mi) S of here earthquakes near Orange County
Charlottesville city, VA 43 km (27 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Charlottesville city

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 3 km SW of Wyndham, Virginia
  2. 2.3 1 km NE of Wyndham, Virginia
  3. 2.8 1 km NNE of Wyndham, Virginia
  4. 1.8 9 km S of Louisa, Virginia
  5. 2.3 18 km ENE of Cumberland, Virginia
  6. 2.3 4 km N of Glen Allen, Virginia
  7. 2.2 Virginia
  8. 1.6 16 km S of Louisa, 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.