QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Moultonborough, NH

USGS: 5 km E of Moultonborough, New Hampshire

87 km (54 mi) N of Manchester, NH

8:12 pm EST, Jan 4, 2019 · · 4.0 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Carroll County 16 kmBelknap County 28 kmGrafton County 45 kmStrafford County 57 kmMerrimack County 58 kmYork County 65 kmCumberland County 81 kmSullivan County 84 kmOrange County 87 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
8:12 pm EST on 4 January 2019 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) E of Moultonborough, NH · earthquakes near Moultonborough
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Carroll County, 16 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2765 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) E of Moultonborough, NH, at 8:12 pm EST on 4 January 2019 (01:12 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sandwich, Tuftonboro, Center Harbor, Tamworth, Meredith, Ossipee.

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 · 17 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 8 km W of Tamworth, New Hampshire · 13 km NNW 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 43.7613, -71.3348. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Carroll County, NH 16 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Carroll County
Belknap County, NH 28 km (17 mi) SSW earthquakes near Belknap County
Grafton County, NH 45 km (28 mi) WNW earthquakes near Grafton County
Strafford County, NH 57 km (36 mi) SSE earthquakes near Strafford County
Merrimack County, NH 58 km (36 mi) SSW earthquakes near Merrimack County
York County, ME 65 km (41 mi) SE earthquakes near York 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 4 km ESE of Northfield, New Hampshire
  3. 1.5 6 km SE of New Hampton, New Hampshire
  4. 2.0 5 km S of Alton, New Hampshire
  5. 2.2 4 km NW of Gilford, New Hampshire
  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. 1.5 4 km WSW of North Woodstock, New Hampshire
  10. 1.9 5 km SW of New Durham, New Hampshire
  11. 2.3 5 km NW of Laconia, New Hampshire
  12. 2.3 5 km NE of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
  13. 2.3 5 km NNW of Sanbornton, New Hampshire
  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.