Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1md
Earthquake near Huntington, WV
No earthquake was likely felt in Huntington in the 24 hours to 6:10 am EST (11:10 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 57 km (35 mi) NNW, at 4:04 pm EST on 3 February 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 863 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Huntington
This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Huntington, WV, at 4:39 pm EST on 16 December 2024 (21:39 UTC), 13 km deep. 1,867 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 1 km NW of Chesapeake, Ohio
- When
- 4:39 pm EST on 16 December 2024 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Huntington, WV · earthquakes near Huntington
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (md)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1,867 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Lawrence County, 19 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 622 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Huntington, WV
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Huntington, WV. 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 163 km (101 mi) from the epicentre. In Huntington, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity III (weak). 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: Burlington, Ceredo, South Point, Kenova, Catlettsburg, Lavalette.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,600 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 210,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,400× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,700× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,600 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× more
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.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 38.4402, -82.4680. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence County, OH | 19 km (12 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Lawrence County |
| Cabell County, WV | 20 km (12 mi) | E | earthquakes near Cabell County |
| Boyd County, KY | 21 km (13 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Boyd County |
| Wayne County, WV | 33 km (21 mi) | S | earthquakes near Wayne County |
| Greenup County, KY | 43 km (27 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Greenup County |
| Gallia County, OH | 44 km (28 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Gallia 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
- 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.