QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

5 km NE of Clinchport, Virginia

· 5.2 km deep · released about 49 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Scott County 8 kmNorton city 25 kmWise County 30 kmHawkins County 35 kmLee County 38 kmSullivan County 42 kmLetcher County 47 kmHarlan County 49 kmWashington County 50 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
5.2 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Scott County, 8 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 7 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 49 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 5.8 310,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 220,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 49 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 36.7120, -82.7052. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Scott County, VA 8 km (5 mi) W of here earthquakes near Scott County
Norton city, VA 25 km (16 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Norton city
Wise County, VA 30 km (19 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Wise County
Hawkins County, TN 35 km (22 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Hawkins County
Lee County, VA 38 km (24 mi) E of here earthquakes near Lee County
Sullivan County, TN 42 km (26 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Sullivan County

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

Aftershocks so far

No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

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.