QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Freedom, NH

USGS: 3 km SE of Freedom, New Hampshire

97 km (60 mi) NNE of Manchester, NH

1:05 am EST, Jan 24, 2018 · · 5.5 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carroll County 18 kmBelknap County 46 kmYork County 49 kmCumberland County 54 kmStrafford County 56 kmGrafton County 69 kmAndroscoggin County 76 kmMerrimack County 77 kmOxford County 81 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
1:05 am EST on 24 January 2018 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) SE of Freedom, NH · earthquakes near Freedom
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
5.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carroll County, 18 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3088 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) SE of Freedom, NH, at 1:05 am EST on 24 January 2018 (06:05 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Effingham, Porter, Parsonsfield, Ossipee, Madison, Cornish.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 5 km NNW of Tamworth, New Hampshire · 26 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 8 km W of Tamworth, New Hampshire · 31 km WNW 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 43.7939, -71.0051. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carroll County, NH 18 km (11 mi) WNW earthquakes near Carroll County
Belknap County, NH 46 km (28 mi) SW earthquakes near Belknap County
York County, ME 49 km (30 mi) SSE earthquakes near York County
Cumberland County, ME 54 km (34 mi) E earthquakes near Cumberland County
Strafford County, NH 56 km (35 mi) S earthquakes near Strafford County
Grafton County, NH 69 km (43 mi) WNW earthquakes near Grafton County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 2 km SW of Center Sandwich, New Hampshire
  2. 1.9 8 km ENE of Lake Arrowhead, Maine
  3. 2.0 5 km S of Alton, New Hampshire
  4. 2.2 4 km NW of Gilford, New Hampshire
  5. 1.9 3 km WSW of Dayton, Maine
  6. 1.5 6 km SE of Newfield, Maine
  7. 1.8 3 km SW of Center Sandwich, New Hampshire
  8. 2.9 4 km SW of Center Sandwich, New Hampshire
  9. 1.9 5 km SW of New Durham, New Hampshire
  10. 2.3 5 km NW of Laconia, New Hampshire
  11. 2.3 5 km NE of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
  12. 2.0 1 km ESE of Springvale, Maine
  13. 2.0 2 km W of Springvale, Maine
  14. 2.0 5 km SW of Albany, New Hampshire
  15. 2.0 3 km ENE of Sandwich, New Hampshire

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.