QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Tanque Verde, AZ

USGS: 21 km E of Tanque Verde, Arizona

35 km (22 mi) ENE of Tucson, AZ

3:50 am MST, Sep 28, 2023 · · 12 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Cochise County 81 kmSanta Cruz County 84 kmGraham County 99 kmPinal County 112 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
3:50 am MST on 28 September 2023 ()
Where
22 km (13 mi) E of Tanque Verde, AZ · earthquakes near Tanque Verde
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
25 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Cochise County, 81 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 986 days ago

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 22 km (13 mi) E of Tanque Verde, AZ, at 3:50 am MST on 28 September 2023 (10:50 UTC). 25 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Mescal, Vail.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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.

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 32.2208, -110.5104. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Cochise County, AZ 81 km (50 mi) ESE earthquakes near Cochise County
Santa Cruz County, AZ 84 km (52 mi) SSW earthquakes near Santa Cruz County
Graham County, AZ 99 km (61 mi) NE earthquakes near Graham County
Pinal County, AZ 112 km (69 mi) NW earthquakes near Pinal County
Pima County, AZ 120 km (75 mi) W earthquakes near Pima County
Greenlee County, AZ 164 km (102 mi) NE earthquakes near Greenlee County

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

Aftershocks so far

1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.6 14 km ENE of Willow Canyon, Arizona

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.