Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Randolph, NJ
No earthquake was likely felt in Randolph in the 24 hours to 4:13 am EST (09:13 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 5 km (3 mi) SE, at 5:38 am EDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Randolph
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Randolph, NJ, at 5:38 am EDT on 22 October 2026 (09:38 UTC), 5.1 km deep.
USGS: 4 km SE of Randolph, New Jersey
54 km (33 mi) WNW of New York, NY · 25 km (15 mi) NNW of Plainfield, NJ
- When
- 5:38 am EDT on 22 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Randolph, NJ · earthquakes near Randolph
- New Jersey today
- every earthquake in New Jersey in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Morris County, 5 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 20 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Randolph, NJ
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Randolph, NJ. No account or email needed.
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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Randolph, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Morris Plains, Morristown, Victory Gardens, Mendham, Dover, Cedar Knolls.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.8 on 2024-04-05 — about 63,000 times the energy of this one.
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 40.8177, -74.5431. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morris County, NJ | 5 km (3 mi) | N | earthquakes near Morris County |
| Essex County, NJ | 25 km (16 mi) | E | earthquakes near Essex County |
| Union County, NJ | 26 km (16 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Union County |
| Somerset County, NJ | 29 km (18 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Somerset County |
| Passaic County, NJ | 32 km (20 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Passaic County |
| Sussex County, NJ | 38 km (23 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Sussex 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.
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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| reported intensity | 2.6 | not reported | |
| felt reports | 43 | not reported | |
| location | 5 km SE of Randolph, New Jersey | 4 km SE of Randolph, New Jersey | |
| longitude | -74.55 | -74.54 | |
| latitude | 40.81 | 40.82 | |
| depth | 10 | 5.14 | |
| reported intensity | 0 | 2.6 | |
| felt reports | 1 | 43 | |
| reported intensity | not reported | 0 | |
| felt reports | not reported | 1 |
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.