QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Natchitoches, LA

USGS: 13 km W of Powhatan, Louisiana

77 km (48 mi) SSE of Shreveport, LA

7:13 pm CDT, Mar 13, 2026 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 85 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Natchitoches Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Red River Parish 23 kmNatchitoches Parish 30 kmSabine Parish 42 kmDe Soto Parish 42 kmBienville Parish 58 kmWinn Parish 66 kmShelby County 77 kmSabine County 78 kmGrant Parish 81 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
7:13 pm CDT on 13 March 2026 ()
Where
28 km (17 mi) WNW of Natchitoches, LA · earthquakes near Natchitoches
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Red River Parish, 23 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 129 days ago

A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) WNW of Natchitoches, LA, at 7:13 pm CDT on 13 March 2026 (00:13 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Coushatta, Campti.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 4.9 on 2026-03-05 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.

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 31.8900, -93.3413. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Red River Parish, LA 23 km (15 mi) N earthquakes near Red River Parish
Natchitoches Parish, LA 30 km (19 mi) SE earthquakes near Natchitoches Parish
Sabine Parish, LA 42 km (26 mi) SSW earthquakes near Sabine Parish
De Soto Parish, LA 42 km (26 mi) WNW earthquakes near De Soto Parish
Bienville Parish, LA 58 km (36 mi) NNE earthquakes near Bienville Parish
Winn Parish, LA 66 km (41 mi) E earthquakes near Winn Parish

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 9 km NE of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana
  2. 2.6 11 km ENE of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana
  3. 3.4 2 km WNW of Coushatta, Louisiana
  4. 1.9 13 km W of Edgefield, Louisiana
  5. 2.3 5 km N of Castor, Louisiana
  6. 2.1 5 km W of Edgefield, Louisiana
  7. 2.5 15 km E of Mansfield, Louisiana
  8. 1.5 15 km W of Coushatta, Louisiana
  9. 2.1 14 km ESE of Mansfield, Louisiana
  10. 2.2 3 km SE of Ringgold, Louisiana
  11. 2.1 16 km W of Coushatta, Louisiana
  12. 1.9 15 km E of Mansfield, Louisiana
  13. 2.5 4 km NW of Coushatta, Louisiana
  14. 2.4 17 km ESE of Mansfield, Louisiana
  15. 2.1 3 km NW of Edgefield, Louisiana

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.