QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Kansas

Yes. A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in Kansas, 79 km (49 mi) SW of Wichita, KS, at 1:07 am CST on 7 January 2017 (07:07 UTC), 6.3 km deep.

79 km (49 mi) SW of Wichita, KS

· 6.3 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Harper County 6 kmKingman County 37 kmSumner County 47 kmGrant County 53 kmBarber County 58 kmAlfalfa County 61 kmSedgwick County 71 kmPratt County 78 kmReno County 80 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 1.8 (ml)
Depth
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Harper County, 6 km SW
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 17 km (11 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.

Likely felt in: Anthony 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 1,800 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 37.2288, -98.0293. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Harper County, KS 6 km (3 mi) SW earthquakes near Harper County
Kingman County, KS 37 km (23 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kingman County
Sumner County, KS 47 km (29 mi) E earthquakes near Sumner County
Grant County, OK 53 km (33 mi) SSE earthquakes near Grant County
Barber County, KS 58 km (36 mi) W earthquakes near Barber County
Alfalfa County, OK 61 km (38 mi) SSW earthquakes near Alfalfa 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. 2.9 5 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas
  2. 1.5 5 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas
  3. 1.8 3 km SSE of Argonia, Kansas
  4. 1.6 3 km SSE of Argonia, Kansas
  5. 2.0 6 km ESE of Anthony, Kansas
  6. 1.7 3 km SSE of Argonia, Kansas
  7. 3.1 10 km SSE of Spivey, Kansas
  8. 1.8 2 km SSE of Bluff City, Kansas
  9. 1.9 6 km ESE of Anthony, Kansas
  10. 1.7 5 km S of Bluff City, Kansas
  11. 3.0 14 km SSW of Manchester, Oklahoma
  12. 2.1 4 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
  13. 1.8 6 km E of Manchester, Oklahoma
  14. 1.6 6 km ESE of Anthony, Kansas
  15. 1.6 6 km ESE of Anthony, Kansas

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.