QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.1mwr

4 km E of Cowles, Nebraska

· 4.6 km deep · released about 21 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Webster County 9 kmNuckolls County 30 kmAdams County 39 kmJewell County 47 kmFranklin County 48 kmClay County 48 kmSmith County 55 kmKearney County 59 kmThayer County 68 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 4.1 (mwr)
Depth
4.6 km below the surface
Felt
1893 reports · strongest reported intensity VI
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Webster County, 9 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 7 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 1893 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.1 about 21 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 45× more

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 40.1779, -98.3972. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Webster County, NE 9 km (5 mi) E of here earthquakes near Webster County
Nuckolls County, NE 30 km (18 mi) W of here earthquakes near Nuckolls County
Adams County, NE 39 km (24 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Adams County
Jewell County, KS 47 km (29 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Jewell County
Franklin County, NE 48 km (30 mi) E of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Clay County, NE 48 km (30 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Clay County

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

Aftershocks so far

7 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

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.