QuakeIndex

quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Kemmerer, WY

USGS: 14 km SW of Oakley, Wyoming

11:24 am MDT, Jun 16, 2016 · · -2.0 km deep · released about 40 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Uinta County 44 kmRich County 49 kmLincoln County 62 kmBear Lake County 88 kmCache County 91 kmSummit County 93 kmMorgan County 100 kmWeber County 111 kmFranklin County 112 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
11:24 am MDT on 16 June 2016 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) SW of Kemmerer, WY · earthquakes near Kemmerer
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
-2.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Uinta County, 44 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Rock Creek fault, 19 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3760 days ago

A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) SW of Kemmerer, WY, at 11:24 am MDT on 16 June 2016 (17:24 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 40 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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 41.6703, -110.6567. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Uinta County, WY 44 km (27 mi) S earthquakes near Uinta County
Rich County, UT 49 km (30 mi) W earthquakes near Rich County
Lincoln County, WY 62 km (39 mi) N earthquakes near Lincoln County
Bear Lake County, ID 88 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Bear Lake County
Cache County, UT 91 km (56 mi) W earthquakes near Cache County
Summit County, UT 93 km (57 mi) SSW earthquakes near Summit County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 11 km NE of Lyman, Wyoming
  2. 1.7 19 km NE of Bear River, Wyoming
  3. 2.0 20 km ESE of Evanston, Wyoming
  4. 2.8 10 km N of Bear River, Wyoming
  5. 2.3 9 km WNW of Fort Bridger, Wyoming
  6. 2.1 3 km WSW of Fort Bridger, Wyoming
  7. 2.1 1 km WSW of Diamondville, Wyoming
  8. 2.6 18 km W of Fontenelle, Wyoming
  9. 1.9 10 km W of Diamondville, Wyoming
  10. 1.6 17 km W of Kemmerer, Wyoming
  11. 2.6 20 km NE of Randolph, Utah
  12. 2.1 3 km WNW of Fort Bridger, Wyoming
  13. 2.1 10 km ESE of Randolph, Utah
  14. 2.7 15 km W of Diamondville, Wyoming
  15. 2.4 10 km SW of Oakley, Wyoming

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.