Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5md
Kentucky-Tennessee border region
Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in the Kentucky-Tennessee border region, at 4:42 pm EDT on 16 May 2017 (20:42 UTC), 20 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (md)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- 4 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Harlan County, 14 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3385 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Harlan, KY
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Harlan, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 43 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Harlan.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 190 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 80,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 57,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.1× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 190 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 36.9080, -83.3643. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harlan County, KY | 14 km (9 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Harlan County |
| Leslie County, KY | 20 km (12 mi) | N | earthquakes near Leslie County |
| Lee County, VA | 31 km (19 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lee County |
| Bell County, KY | 34 km (21 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Bell County |
| Perry County, KY | 39 km (24 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Perry County |
| Clay County, KY | 42 km (26 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Clay County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
20 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 5 km ESE of Pineville, Kentucky
- 2.5 9 km NE of Flat Lick, Kentucky
- 2.4 5 km ENE of Harrogate, Tennessee
- 2.7 18 km SSE of Hyden, Kentucky
- 2.2 9 km SSW of Cumberland, Kentucky
- 2.4 Kentucky-Tennessee border region
- 2.5 5 km SW of Benham, Kentucky
- 2.0 8 km SW of Cawood, Kentucky
- 2.3 4 km E of Harrogate, Tennessee
- 2.2 12 km SW of Pathfork, Kentucky
- 2.2 10 km WSW of Hyden, Kentucky
- 2.5 6 km E of Sneedville, Tennessee
- 3.1 Tennessee-Virginia border region
- 2.0 1 km SSW of Cawood, Kentucky
- 2.4 3 km W of Artemus, 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.