mine collapse · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0mb_lg
Earthquake near Birmingham, AL
No earthquake was likely felt in Birmingham in the 24 hours to 10:48 am CST (16:48 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 639 km (397 mi) WSW, at 5:30 am CST on 5 March 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,576 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Birmingham
No: USGS classifies this as a mine collapse, not an earthquake. A magnitude 3.0 mine collapse was recorded 39 km (24 mi) west-southwest of Birmingham, AL, at 3:58 am CDT on 29 April 2016 (08:58 UTC), 2.0 km deep.
USGS: 7 km W of North Johns, Alabama
39 km (24 mi) WSW of Birmingham, AL · 35 km (21 mi) W of Hoover, AL
- When
- 3:58 am CDT on 29 April 2016 ()
- Where
- 39 km (24 mi) west-southwest of Birmingham, AL · earthquakes near Birmingham
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (mb_lg)
- Depth
- 2.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Jefferson County, 33 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3767 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Birmingham, AL
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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 73 km (45 mi) from the epicentre. In Birmingham, 39 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: Lake View, Rock Creek, Concord, Brookwood, Hueytown, Woodstock.
USGS catalogues this as mine collapse, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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.
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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.1 Near Irondale, Alabama · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
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 33.3773, -87.1819. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, AL | 33 km (20 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Tuscaloosa County, AL | 33 km (21 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Tuscaloosa County |
| Bibb County, AL | 41 km (25 mi) | S | earthquakes near Bibb County |
| Walker County, AL | 47 km (29 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Walker County |
| Shelby County, AL | 50 km (31 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Shelby County |
| Fayette County, AL | 66 km (41 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Fayette County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
7 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 15 km W of Rock Creek, Alabama
- 2.5 21 km W of Rock Creek, Alabama
- 2.3 21 km S of Berry, Alabama
- 2.7 22 km S of Oakman, Alabama
- 2.6 16 km S of Oakman, Alabama
- 2.5 20 km S of Oakman, Alabama
- 2.8 8 km W of North Johns, Alabama
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.