QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

7 km SW of Stearns, Kentucky

· 25 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N McCreary County 10 kmScott County 25 kmWayne County 31 kmWhitley County 37 kmCampbell County 44 kmFentress County 48 kmPickett County 49 kmPulaski County 51 kmClinton County 54 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 2.1 (md)
Depth
25 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
McCreary County, 10 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 947 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 46 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 36.6530, -84.5370. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
McCreary County, KY 10 km (6 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near McCreary County
Scott County, TN 25 km (15 mi) N of here earthquakes near Scott County
Wayne County, KY 31 km (19 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Wayne County
Whitley County, KY 37 km (23 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Whitley County
Campbell County, TN 44 km (27 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Campbell County
Fentress County, TN 48 km (30 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Fentress County

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. 2.3 10 km S of Jellico, Tennessee

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.