QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

4 km ESE of Caldwell, Kansas

· 5.7 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sumner County 26 kmGrant County 32 kmKay County 43 kmHarper County 49 kmCowley County 69 kmGarfield County 73 kmAlfalfa County 75 kmSedgwick County 75 kmNoble County 76 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 2.1 (ml)
Depth
5.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Sumner County, 26 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3496 days ago

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

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 46 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 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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.

Where

Epicentre 37.0130, -97.5610. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sumner County, KS 26 km (16 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Sumner County
Grant County, OK 32 km (20 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Grant County
Kay County, OK 43 km (27 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Kay County
Harper County, KS 49 km (30 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Harper County
Cowley County, KS 69 km (43 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Cowley County
Garfield County, OK 73 km (46 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Garfield County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 3 km SSE of Argonia, Kansas
  2. 1.8 2 km SSE of Bluff City, Kansas
  3. 1.9 6 km ESE of Anthony, Kansas
  4. 3.0 2 km ESE of South Haven, Kansas
  5. 1.7 5 km S of Bluff City, Kansas
  6. 2.6 2 km ESE of South Haven, Kansas
  7. 3.0 14 km SSW of Manchester, Oklahoma
  8. 2.1 4 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
  9. 1.8 6 km E of Manchester, Oklahoma
  10. 1.6 6 km ESE of Anthony, Kansas
  11. 1.6 6 km ESE of Anthony, Kansas
  12. 2.6 9 km W of Lamont, Oklahoma
  13. 2.2 3 km SE of Bluff City, Kansas
  14. 1.6 3 km SSE of Bluff City, Kansas
  15. 2.2 3 km SE of Bluff City, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2016-11-25 — it released about 660 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.