QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6mwr

43 km S of Ten Sleep, Wyoming

Yes. A magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 43 km S of Ten Sleep, Wyoming, at 3:17 pm MDT on 4 July 2021 (21:17 UTC), 17 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 17 km deep · released about 3.8 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Washakie County 35 kmJohnson County 77 kmHot Springs County 86 kmNatrona County 89 kmBig Horn County 110 kmFremont County 119 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 3.6 (mwr)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Washakie County, 35 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1888 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 67 km (42 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

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.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
  5. 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2017-11-03 — about 4 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 43.6458, -107.3763. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Washakie County, WY 35 km (22 mi) NW earthquakes near Washakie County
Johnson County, WY 77 km (48 mi) NE earthquakes near Johnson County
Hot Springs County, WY 86 km (53 mi) W earthquakes near Hot Springs County
Natrona County, WY 89 km (55 mi) SSE earthquakes near Natrona County
Big Horn County, WY 110 km (68 mi) NNW earthquakes near Big Horn County
Fremont County, WY 119 km (74 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fremont County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 10 km SSE of Ten Sleep, Wyoming
  2. 3.3 32 km NW of Kaycee, Wyoming
  3. 3.7 Wyoming
  4. 2.3 56 km ESE of East Thermopolis, Wyoming
  5. 2.6 28 km SSE of Ten Sleep, Wyoming

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.