QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

3 km S of Bowling Green, Virginia

· 12 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Caroline County 1 kmHanover County 31 kmSpotsylvania County 33 kmKing George County 33 kmFredericksburg city 34 kmEssex County 37 kmKing William County 41 kmStafford County 46 kmWestmoreland 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 2.4 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
7 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Caroline County, 1 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3231 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 38.0185, -77.3448. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Caroline County, VA 1 km (1 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Caroline County
Hanover County, VA 31 km (20 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Hanover County
Spotsylvania County, VA 33 km (20 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Spotsylvania County
King George County, VA 33 km (20 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near King George County
Fredericksburg city, VA 34 km (21 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Fredericksburg city
Essex County, VA 37 km (23 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Essex County

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. 2.3 4 km N of Glen Allen, Virginia
  5. 2.2 Virginia
  6. 2.4 13 km NW of Ashland, Virginia
  7. 2.2 6 km WNW of Ashland, Virginia
  8. 2.5 3 km WNW of Wyndham, 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.