Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Harper, KS
No earthquake was likely felt in Harper in the 24 hours to 4:02 pm CST (22:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 186 km (116 mi) S, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Harper
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) east-southeast of Harper, KS, at 11:21 am CST on 22 February 2017 (17:21 UTC), 6.4 km deep.
USGS: 6 km ESE of Harper, Kansas
73 km (45 mi) SW of Wichita, KS
- When
- 11:21 am CST on 22 February 2017 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) east-southeast of Harper, KS · earthquakes near Harper
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Harper County, 12 km SW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3541 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Harper, KS
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Harper, KS. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Harper, 6 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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: Anthony.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.8 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 3,800 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 37.2572, -97.9643. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harper County, KS | 12 km (7 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Harper County |
| Kingman County, KS | 37 km (23 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kingman County |
| Sumner County, KS | 42 km (26 mi) | E | earthquakes near Sumner County |
| Grant County, OK | 54 km (34 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Barber County, KS | 64 km (40 mi) | W | earthquakes near Barber County |
| Sedgwick County, KS | 65 km (40 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Sedgwick County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 6 km ESE of Mayfield, Kansas
- 2.5 12 km SSE of Waldron, Kansas
- 2.1 8 km ESE of Caldwell, Kansas
- 1.6 5 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas
- 2.5 10 km SSE of Waldron, Kansas
- 3.1 10 km SSE of Waldron, Kansas
- 1.8 11 km NNW of Caldwell, Kansas
- 1.7 4 km NNW of Mayfield, Kansas
- 1.9 5 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas
- 2.7 Kansas
- 2.0 5 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas
- 2.6 5 km SSW of Bluff City, Kansas
- 1.5 8 km SW of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.0 7 km ENE of Attica, Kansas
- 1.5 5 km SE of Freeport, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.