QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

4 km N of Glen Allen, Virginia

· 5.9 km deep · released about 88 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Hanover County 6 kmRichmond city 20 kmGoochland County 35 kmHenrico County 36 kmKing William County 37 kmChesterfield County 37 kmCaroline County 38 kmPowhatan County 39 kmLouisa County 49 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
5.9 km below the surface
Felt
552 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Hanover County, 6 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 509 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 552 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 88 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 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 88 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 37.7102, -77.5153. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Hanover County, VA 6 km (4 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Hanover County
Richmond city, VA 20 km (13 mi) N of here earthquakes near Richmond city
Goochland County, VA 35 km (22 mi) E of here earthquakes near Goochland County
Henrico County, VA 36 km (22 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Henrico County
King William County, VA 37 km (23 mi) W of here earthquakes near King William County
Chesterfield County, VA 37 km (23 mi) N of here earthquakes near Chesterfield County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 11 km S of Woodlake, Virginia
  2. 1.6 3 km SW of Wyndham, Virginia
  3. 2.3 1 km NE of Wyndham, Virginia
  4. 2.8 1 km NNE of Wyndham, Virginia
  5. 1.8 9 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.