QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5mb_lg

Earthquake near Hastings, NE

USGS: 10 km ENE of Cowles, Nebraska

6:15 am CDT, Aug 22, 2023 · · 10 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hastings Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Webster County 14 kmNuckolls County 25 kmAdams County 37 kmClay County 42 kmJewell County 49 kmFranklin County 53 kmSmith County 61 kmKearney County 61 kmThayer County 63 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
6:15 am CDT on 22 August 2023 ()
Where
42 km (26 mi) S of Hastings, NE · earthquakes near Hastings
Magnitude
M 2.5 (mb_lg)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Webster County, 14 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1070 days ago

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) S of Hastings, NE, at 6:15 am CDT on 22 August 2023 (11:15 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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.

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 40.2119, -98.3362. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Webster County, NE 14 km (9 mi) WSW earthquakes near Webster County
Nuckolls County, NE 25 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Nuckolls County
Adams County, NE 37 km (23 mi) NNW earthquakes near Adams County
Clay County, NE 42 km (26 mi) NE earthquakes near Clay County
Jewell County, KS 49 km (31 mi) SSE earthquakes near Jewell County
Franklin County, NE 53 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near Franklin County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 7 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
  2. 2.8 4 km ESE of Cowles, Nebraska
  3. 2.5 6 km ESE of Cowles, Nebraska
  4. 2.4 4 km ENE of Cowles, Nebraska
  5. 2.6 8 km N of Guide Rock, Nebraska
  6. 2.6 9 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
  7. 2.3 3 km S of Cowles, Nebraska
  8. 4.1 4 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
  9. 2.8 7 km ENE of Cowles, Nebraska
  10. 2.8 3 km W of Harvard, Nebraska
  11. 2.5 11 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
  12. 3.5 10 km NNE of Guide Rock, Nebraska
  13. 2.8 11 km SSW of Lawrence, Nebraska
  14. 2.6 10 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
  15. 2.8 9 km E of Cowles, Nebraska

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.