QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

2 km WSW of Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania

· 3.0 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Berks County 14 kmLancaster County 36 kmLebanon County 37 kmChester County 45 kmSchuylkill County 46 kmLehigh County 50 kmMontgomery County 58 kmDauphin County 65 kmDelaware County 70 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 2.1 (ml)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
180 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Berks County, 14 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 905 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 180 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 40.3176, -76.0356. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
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 37 km (23 mi) E of here earthquakes near Lebanon County
Chester County, PA 45 km (28 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Chester County
Schuylkill County, PA 46 km (28 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Schuylkill 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

2 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

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.