QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

6 km N of Wernersville, Pennsylvania

· 1.2 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Berks County 12 kmLebanon County 34 kmSchuylkill County 38 kmLancaster County 41 kmLehigh County 48 kmChester County 53 kmDauphin County 61 kmMontgomery County 62 kmCarbon County 67 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 1.5 (ml)
Depth
1.2 km below the surface
Felt
35 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Berks County, 12 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 904 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 35 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 40.3853, -76.0675. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Berks County, PA 12 km (8 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Berks County
Lebanon County, PA 34 km (21 mi) E of here earthquakes near Lebanon County
Schuylkill County, PA 38 km (23 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Schuylkill County
Lancaster County, PA 41 km (26 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Lancaster County
Lehigh County, PA 48 km (30 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Lehigh County
Chester County, PA 53 km (33 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Chester County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 0 km W of Shillington, Pennsylvania
  2. 1.7 1 km SSW of Alburtis, Pennsylvania
  3. 2.1 2 km WSW of Sinking Spring, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.