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KGS Home > Geologic Hazards
3.1 Magnitude earthquake near Williamsburg, Kentucky on January 27, 2009

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A minor earthquake occurred January 27, 2009 at about 6:20 a.m. Eastern Standard Time in the East Tennessee Seismic Zone near Williamsburg, Kentucky.   The magnitude 3.1 earthquake occurred 25.7 kilometers (16.0 miles) underground.

For more information on this event, see this USGS site: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/sehnw0127a.php#details

The earthquake was recorded on instruments in the Kentucky Seismic and Strong Motion Network, operated jointly by the Kentucky Geological Survey and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Kentucky.

The graphic below is the actual record of the earthquake made by 8 Network instruments.