QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6mb_lg

Earthquake near Madison, OH

No earthquake was likely felt in Madison in the 24 hours to 4:50 am EST (09:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 9 km (5 mi) WNW, at 6:12 pm EDT on 8 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 13 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Madison

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south of Madison, OH, at 1:25 am EDT on 15 October 2019 (05:25 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 60 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km S of Madison, Ohio

59 km (37 mi) ENE of Cleveland, OH

1:25 am EDT, Oct 15, 2019 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Madison Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 13 kmGeauga County 27 kmAshtabula County 32 kmCuyahoga County 50 kmTrumbull County 52 kmPortage County 63 kmCrawford County 78 kmSummit County 79 kmMercer County 82 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
1:25 am EDT on 15 October 2019 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south of Madison, OH · earthquakes near Madison
Magnitude
M 2.6 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
60 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Lake County, 13 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2504 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 51 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In Madison, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Madison 5 km, intensity III · Painesville 16 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 4.0 on 2019-06-10 — about 130 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 4 km NNW of Chardon, Ohio · 13 km SW 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 41.7284, -81.0516. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, OH 13 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Lake County
Geauga County, OH 27 km (17 mi) SSW earthquakes near Geauga County
Ashtabula County, OH 32 km (20 mi) NE earthquakes near Ashtabula County
Cuyahoga County, OH 50 km (31 mi) WSW earthquakes near Cuyahoga County
Trumbull County, OH 52 km (33 mi) SSE earthquakes near Trumbull County
Portage County, OH 63 km (39 mi) S earthquakes near Portage County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 1 km W of North Perry, Ohio
  2. 2.0 3 km SE of Madison, Ohio
  3. 2.2 5 km W of Rock Creek, Ohio
  4. 2.1 2 km SE of Madison, Ohio
  5. 2.2 6 km SE of Madison, Ohio
  6. 2.3 4 km SE of Madison, Ohio
  7. 2.9 3 km SW of Madison, Ohio
  8. 2.2 3 km SSE of Madison, Ohio
  9. 2.7 4 km ENE of North Madison, Ohio
  10. 2.3 2 km SSE of Madison, Ohio
  11. 2.5 4 km ESE of Madison, Ohio
  12. 2.0 2 km ESE of Madison, Ohio
  13. 1.8 5 km NW of Lakeline, Ohio
  14. 2.2 2 km ESE of Madison, Ohio
  15. 1.7 1 km ESE of Madison, Ohio

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.