Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6mb_lg
9 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (mb_lg)
- Depth
- 5.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- 16 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Webster County, 14 km W
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 134 days ago
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 16 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 40.1618, -98.3351. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webster County, NE | 14 km (9 mi) | E of here | earthquakes near Webster County |
| Nuckolls County, NE | 25 km (15 mi) | W of here | earthquakes near Nuckolls County |
| Adams County, NE | 42 km (26 mi) | SSE of here | earthquakes near Adams County |
| Jewell County, KS | 44 km (27 mi) | NNW of here | earthquakes near Jewell County |
| Clay County, NE | 47 km (29 mi) | SSW of here | earthquakes near Clay County |
| Franklin County, NE | 53 km (33 mi) | E of here | earthquakes near Franklin County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
5 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.9 7 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
- 2.8 4 km ESE of Cowles, Nebraska
- 2.5 6 km ESE of Cowles, Nebraska
- 2.4 4 km ENE of Cowles, Nebraska
- 2.6 8 km N of Guide Rock, 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.1 on 2026-03-01 — it released about 180 times the energy of this one.
From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.