Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
southern Ontario, Canada
Yes. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded in southern Ontario, Canada, 38 km (24 mi) NNW of Erie, PA, at 4:36 am EST on 22 November 2020 (09:36 UTC), 4.9 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
38 km (24 mi) NNW of Erie, PA · 126 km (78 mi) WSW of Buffalo, NY
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity I
- Nearest
- Erie County, 37 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2107 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Erie, PA
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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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 28 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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.
Where
Epicentre 42.4279, -80.2592. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erie County, PA | 37 km (23 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Erie County |
| Ashtabula County, OH | 70 km (44 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Ashtabula County |
| Chautauqua County, NY | 71 km (44 mi) | E | earthquakes near Chautauqua County |
| Crawford County, PA | 83 km (52 mi) | S | earthquakes near Crawford County |
| Warren County, PA | 103 km (64 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Warren County |
| Lake County, OH | 106 km (66 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Lake County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
2 earthquakes have 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.