QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Kansas

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Kansas, 75 km (47 mi) SSW of Wichita, KS, at 10:29 pm CST on 5 January 2017 (04:29 UTC), 4.1 km deep.

75 km (47 mi) SSW of Wichita, KS

· 4.1 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Harper County 26 kmSumner County 30 kmGrant County 36 kmKingman County 58 kmAlfalfa County 64 kmKay County 67 kmSedgwick County 70 kmBarber County 80 kmGarfield County 82 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
4.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Harper County, 26 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3541 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Caldwell, Anthony, Harper.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 4.0 on 2016-11-25 — about 4,000 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 37.1143, -97.7938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Harper County, KS 26 km (16 mi) WNW earthquakes near Harper County
Sumner County, KS 30 km (19 mi) ENE earthquakes near Sumner County
Grant County, OK 36 km (23 mi) S earthquakes near Grant County
Kingman County, KS 58 km (36 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kingman County
Alfalfa County, OK 64 km (40 mi) SW earthquakes near Alfalfa County
Kay County, OK 67 km (41 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kay County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 3 km SSE of Bluff City, Kansas
  2. 2.2 3 km SE of Bluff City, Kansas
  3. 1.8 3 km SE of Bluff City, Kansas
  4. 3.2 7 km W of Wakita, Oklahoma
  5. 1.7 7 km ESE of Bluff City, Kansas
  6. 1.5 7 km SE of Bluff City, Kansas
  7. 1.8 2 km E of Anthony, Kansas
  8. 2.6 8 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  9. 1.9 7 km ESE of Bluff City, Kansas
  10. 1.5 7 km ESE of Bluff City, Kansas
  11. 2.5 7 km W of Wakita, Oklahoma
  12. 1.6 5 km E of Manchester, Oklahoma
  13. 2.1 8 km N of Manchester, Oklahoma
  14. 3.0 1 km SSE of Medford, Oklahoma
  15. 2.8 13 km SSW of Wakita, Oklahoma

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.