QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Charleston, ME

USGS: 9 km NNW of Charleston, Maine

7:37 pm EST, Dec 18, 2016 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Charleston Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Penobscot County 43 kmWaldo County 77 kmSomerset County 78 kmPiscataquis County 84 kmHancock County 87 kmKennebec County 99 kmFranklin County 106 kmWashington County 118 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
7:37 pm EST on 18 December 2016 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) NNW of Charleston, ME · earthquakes near Charleston
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Penobscot County, 43 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3488 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) NNW of Charleston, ME, at 7:37 pm EST on 18 December 2016 (00:37 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Dover-Foxcroft, Milo, Garland, Bradford, Brownville, Sangerville.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 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 45.1646, -69.0890. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Penobscot County, ME 43 km (27 mi) NE earthquakes near Penobscot County
Waldo County, ME 77 km (48 mi) S earthquakes near Waldo County
Somerset County, ME 78 km (48 mi) WNW earthquakes near Somerset County
Piscataquis County, ME 84 km (52 mi) N earthquakes near Piscataquis County
Hancock County, ME 87 km (54 mi) SE earthquakes near Hancock County
Kennebec County, ME 99 km (61 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kennebec County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 15 km ENE of Greenville, Maine
  2. 2.0 5 km ENE of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine
  3. 2.0 7 km ESE of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine
  4. 1.5 7 km ESE of Cambridge, Maine
  5. 1.7 3 km N of Sangerville, Maine
  6. 1.9 3 km SW of Sebec, Maine
  7. 1.6 4 km NNE of Bowerbank, Maine
  8. 1.8 19 km SW of Millinocket, Maine
  9. 1.6 7 km NE of Dixmont, Maine
  10. 1.9 0 km ENE of Sebec, Maine
  11. 2.5 5 km SSW of Sebec, Maine
  12. 1.5 6 km SSE of Willimantic, Maine
  13. 1.9 9 km NW of Brownville, Maine
  14. 2.0 9 km NNW of Lake View, Maine
  15. 2.1 7 km S of Sebec, Maine

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.