QuakeIndex

mine collapse · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.7mwr

11 km NNW of Richlands, Virginia

· 0.0 km deep · released about 5.4 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Buchanan County 20 kmTazewell County 25 kmMcDowell County 26 kmRussell County 37 kmDickenson County 46 kmSmyth County 46 kmWashington County 50 kmWyoming County 52 kmPike County 61 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 3.7 (mwr)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
31 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Buchanan County, 20 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3662 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 31 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS catalogues this as mine collapse, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.7 about 5.4 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 11× 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.

Where

Epicentre 37.1892, -81.8317. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Buchanan County, VA 20 km (13 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Buchanan County
Tazewell County, VA 25 km (15 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Tazewell County
McDowell County, WV 26 km (16 mi) SW of here earthquakes near McDowell County
Russell County, VA 37 km (23 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Russell County
Dickenson County, VA 46 km (29 mi) E of here earthquakes near Dickenson County
Smyth County, VA 46 km (29 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Smyth County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 3 km NE of Dante, Virginia
  2. 2.6 9 km NNW of Richlands, Virginia
  3. 2.1 11 km NNW of Richlands, Virginia
  4. 2.4 9 km N of Richlands, Virginia
  5. 2.4 10 km NNW of Richlands, Virginia
  6. 2.6 10 km NNW of Richlands, Virginia
  7. 2.1 9 km N of Richlands, Virginia
  8. 2.8 3 km SE of Welch, West 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.