QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7mb_lg

Earthquake near North Madison, OH

No earthquake was likely felt in North Madison in the 24 hours to 3:24 am EST (08:24 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 7 km (4 mi) WSW, at 6:12 pm EDT on 8 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 13 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near North Madison

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of North Madison, OH, at 11:50 pm EST on 5 January 2026 (04:50 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 85 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km ENE of North Madison, Ohio

67 km (42 mi) ENE of Cleveland, OH

11:50 pm EST, Jan 5, 2026 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 340 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 17 kmAshtabula County 24 kmGeauga County 37 kmCuyahoga County 58 kmTrumbull County 59 kmPortage County 73 kmCrawford County 75 kmErie County 82 kmMercer County 84 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
11:50 pm EST on 5 January 2026 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) east-southeast of North Madison, OH · earthquakes near North Madison
Magnitude
M 2.7 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
85 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Lake County, 17 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 74 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 56 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In North Madison, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity III (weak). 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.

Likely felt in: Madison 6 km, intensity III · Painesville 23 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 340 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 340 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2019-06-10 — about 89 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 4 km NNW of Chardon, Ohio · 22 km SW of this epicentre

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 41.8102, -80.9995. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, OH 17 km (10 mi) WSW earthquakes near Lake County
Ashtabula County, OH 24 km (15 mi) ENE earthquakes near Ashtabula County
Geauga County, OH 37 km (23 mi) SSW earthquakes near Geauga County
Cuyahoga County, OH 58 km (36 mi) WSW earthquakes near Cuyahoga County
Trumbull County, OH 59 km (37 mi) SSE earthquakes near Trumbull County
Portage County, OH 73 km (45 mi) SSW earthquakes near Portage County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 1 km W of North Perry, Ohio
  2. 2.0 3 km SE of Madison, Ohio
  3. 2.2 5 km W of Rock Creek, Ohio
  4. 2.1 2 km SE of Madison, Ohio
  5. 2.2 6 km SE of Madison, Ohio
  6. 2.3 4 km SE of Madison, Ohio
  7. 2.9 3 km SW of Madison, Ohio
  8. 2.2 3 km SSE of Madison, Ohio

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.