QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

6 km N of Cornwall, Canada

· 18 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Franklin County 62 kmSt. Lawrence County 71 kmClinton County 88 kmGrand Isle County 116 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
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Franklin County, 62 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2393 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km N of Cornwall, Canada at 23:53 UTC on 2019-12-31. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Fort Covington Hamlet, Massena.

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.

Where

Epicentre 45.0723, -74.7236. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Franklin County, NY 62 km (39 mi) SSE earthquakes near Franklin County
St. Lawrence County, NY 71 km (44 mi) SSW earthquakes near St. Lawrence County
Clinton County, NY 88 km (54 mi) ESE earthquakes near Clinton County
Grand Isle County, VT 116 km (72 mi) ESE earthquakes near Grand Isle County
Essex County, NY 131 km (81 mi) SE earthquakes near Essex County
Jefferson County, NY 159 km (99 mi) SW earthquakes near Jefferson County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 7 km NE of Potsdam, New York
  2. 1.6 5 km S of Fort Covington Hamlet, New York
  3. 1.6 6 km ESE of Fort Covington Hamlet, New York
  4. 1.6 1 km S of Massena, New York
  5. 1.6 6 km SW of Rigaud, Canada
  6. 2.2 8 km W of Saint Regis Falls, New York
  7. 2.5 6 km SSE of Fort Covington Hamlet, New York
  8. 1.8 6 km WNW of Huntingdon, Canada
  9. 2.1 8 km WNW of Huntingdon, Canada
  10. 3.1 6 km WNW of Huntingdon, Canada
  11. 1.9 8 km ESE of Fort Covington Hamlet, New York
  12. 1.6 Ontario-Quebec border region, Canada
  13. 2.1 7 km SW of Cornwall, Canada
  14. 2.2 9 km WNW of Massena, New York
  15. 1.7 New York

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

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