Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Caldwell, KS
No earthquake was likely felt in Caldwell in the 24 hours to 10:53 am CST (16:53 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 163 km (101 mi) SSW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Caldwell
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) north of Caldwell, KS, at 2:53 pm CDT on 6 August 2017 (19:53 UTC), 6.1 km deep.
USGS: 12 km N of Caldwell, Kansas
66 km (41 mi) SSW of Wichita, KS
- When
- 2:53 pm CDT on 6 August 2017 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) north of Caldwell, KS · earthquakes near Caldwell
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Sumner County, 16 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3374 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Caldwell, KS
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Caldwell, 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Caldwell, 12 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: Wellington, Conway Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.7 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 4.1 on 2017-03-29 — about 4,900 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 37.1423, -97.6340. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sumner County, KS | 16 km (10 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Sumner County |
| Harper County, KS | 39 km (24 mi) | W | earthquakes near Harper County |
| Grant County, OK | 42 km (26 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Kay County, OK | 57 km (35 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kay County |
| Sedgwick County, KS | 62 km (38 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Sedgwick County |
| Kingman County, KS | 64 km (40 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kingman County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 10 km SSE of Milan, Kansas
- 2.4 10 km SSE of Milan, Kansas
- 3.4 7 km S of Cheney, Kansas
- 1.6 6 km N of Argonia, Kansas
- 1.7 10 km SSW of Bluff City, Kansas
- 3.0 6 km NNE of Wakita, Oklahoma
- 2.5 6 km NNE of Wakita, Oklahoma
- 2.0 1 km NNW of Freeport, Kansas
- 2.3 5 km SSW of Bluff City, Kansas
- 3.0 2 km WSW of Mayfield, Kansas
- 1.6 5 km ENE of Anthony, Kansas
- 2.1 8 km SSE of Mayfield, Kansas
- 3.1 6 km NNE of Wakita, Oklahoma
- 2.9 6 km NNE of Wakita, Oklahoma
- 1.5 4 km NNW 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.
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.