Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6mwr
Earthquake near Bliss Corner, MA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bliss Corner in the 24 hours to 11:32 pm EST (04:32 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 9 km (5 mi) NE, at 9:11 pm EST on 7 January 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 12 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bliss Corner
This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) south of Bliss Corner, MA, at 9:10 am EST on 8 November 2020 (14:10 UTC), 10 km deep. 19,622 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10 km S of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
91 km (57 mi) S of Boston, MA · 16 km (10 mi) S of New Bedford, MA
- When
- 9:10 am EST on 8 November 2020 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) south of Bliss Corner, MA · earthquakes near Bliss Corner
- Massachusetts today
- every earthquake in Massachusetts in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (mwr)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 19,622 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Dukes County, 26 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 165 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bliss Corner, MA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bliss Corner, MA. 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 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 338 km (210 mi) from the epicentre. In Bliss Corner, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: New Bedford, Smith Mills, Fairhaven, Head of Westport, Acushnet, Acushnet Center.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× 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 41.5208, -70.9546. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dukes County, MA | 26 km (16 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Dukes County |
| Newport County, RI | 27 km (17 mi) | W | earthquakes near Newport County |
| Bristol County, MA | 28 km (17 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Bristol County |
| Bristol County, RI | 34 km (21 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Bristol County |
| Plymouth County, MA | 55 km (34 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Plymouth County |
| Kent County, RI | 55 km (34 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kent County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
7 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 3 km ESE of Acushnet, Massachusetts
- 1.9 4 km ESE of Narragansett, Rhode Island
- 1.6 4 km S of Bristol, Rhode Island
- 2.0 18 km NE of New Shoreham, Rhode Island
- 2.2 18 km SSE of Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island
- 2.1 18 km NE of New Shoreham, Rhode Island
- 2.0 9 km SSW of Bliss Corner, Massachusetts
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.