Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.1mwr
Earthquake near Dover, DE
No earthquake was likely felt in Dover in the 24 hours to 6:54 pm EST (23:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.7, 183 km (114 mi) NNE, at 5:59 pm EDT on 5 April 2024, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 12,579 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Dover
This page: a magnitude 4.1 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Dover, DE, at 4:47 pm EST on 30 November 2017 (21:47 UTC), 9.9 km deep. 14,574 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3 km NNE of Little Creek, Delaware
94 km (58 mi) SSW of Philadelphia, PA · 48 km (30 mi) SW of Vineland, NJ
- When
- 4:47 pm EST on 30 November 2017 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Dover, DE · earthquakes near Dover
- Magnitude
- M 4.1 (mwr)
- Depth
- 9.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 14,574 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Kent County, 13 km SSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 90 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Dover, DE
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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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 491 km (305 mi) from the epicentre. In Dover, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Dover Base Housing, Kent Acres, Rodney Village, Highland Acres, Rising Sun-Lebanon, Camden.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 21 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 7,900× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.1 about 21 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 45× 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. No other earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded this close in that time.
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 39.1977, -75.4325. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent County, DE | 13 km (8 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kent County |
| Cumberland County, NJ | 30 km (19 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Cumberland County |
| Salem County, NJ | 42 km (26 mi) | N | earthquakes near Salem County |
| New Castle County, DE | 46 km (28 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near New Castle County |
| Caroline County, MD | 50 km (31 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Caroline County |
| Cape May County, NJ | 52 km (32 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Cape May County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
1 earthquake has 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.