Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
2 km W of Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 34 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Berks County, 14 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1716 days ago
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 34 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 40.3232, -76.0401. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berks County, PA | 14 km (9 mi) | SW of here | earthquakes near Berks County |
| Lancaster County, PA | 36 km (22 mi) | NNE of here | earthquakes near Lancaster County |
| Lebanon County, PA | 36 km (23 mi) | E of here | earthquakes near Lebanon County |
| Schuylkill County, PA | 45 km (28 mi) | SSE of here | earthquakes near Schuylkill County |
| Chester County, PA | 46 km (29 mi) | NNW of here | earthquakes near Chester County |
| Lehigh County, PA | 50 km (31 mi) | SW of here | earthquakes near Lehigh County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
4 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 0 km W of Shillington, Pennsylvania
- 1.7 1 km SSW of Alburtis, Pennsylvania
- 2.1 2 km WSW of Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania
- 1.5 6 km N of Wernersville, Pennsylvania
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.