QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9mb_lg

12 km W of Belle Plaine, Kansas

· 5.0 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sumner County 20 kmSedgwick County 30 kmCowley County 55 kmHarper County 62 kmButler County 65 kmKingman County 66 kmKay County 71 kmHarvey County 71 kmGrant 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 2.9 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
13 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Sumner County, 20 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3575 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 13 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 37.4093, -97.4210. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Sumner County, KS 20 km (13 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Sumner County
Sedgwick County, KS 30 km (19 mi) S of here earthquakes near Sedgwick County
Cowley County, KS 55 km (34 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Cowley County
Harper County, KS 62 km (39 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Harper County
Butler County, KS 65 km (41 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Butler County
Kingman County, KS 66 km (41 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Kingman County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 4 km SE of Caldwell, Kansas
  2. 2.3 4 km ESE of Caldwell, Kansas
  3. 1.5 3 km NNW of Freeport, Kansas
  4. 1.6 6 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas
  5. 1.7 6 km SE of Freeport, Kansas
  6. 2.7 6 km SE of Freeport, Kansas
  7. 3.1 7 km SSE of Milton, Kansas
  8. 2.9 4 km E of Milton, Kansas
  9. 1.9 6 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas
  10. 1.6 6 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas
  11. 2.8 6 km SE of Freeport, Kansas
  12. 1.8 4 km SSW of Freeport, Kansas
  13. 2.2 4 km ESE of Caldwell, Kansas
  14. 1.8 4 km ESE of Caldwell, Kansas
  15. 1.8 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.