QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

18 km ENE of Cumberland, Virginia

· 5.3 km deep · released about 74 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Powhatan County 12 kmCumberland County 18 kmGoochland County 22 kmAmelia County 25 kmFluvanna County 37 kmBuckingham County 42 kmChesterfield County 45 kmNottoway County 46 kmLouisa County 47 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
5.3 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Powhatan County, 12 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 717 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 74 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 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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 37.5535, -78.0503. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Powhatan County, VA 12 km (8 mi) W of here earthquakes near Powhatan County
Cumberland County, VA 18 km (11 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Cumberland County
Goochland County, VA 22 km (14 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Goochland County
Amelia County, VA 25 km (16 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Amelia County
Fluvanna County, VA 37 km (23 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Fluvanna County
Buckingham County, VA 42 km (26 mi) E of here earthquakes near Buckingham County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 11 km S of Woodlake, Virginia
  2. 3.0 8 km S of Dillwyn, Virginia
  3. 1.6 3 km SW of Wyndham, Virginia
  4. 2.3 1 km NE of Wyndham, Virginia
  5. 2.8 1 km NNE of Wyndham, Virginia
  6. 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.