Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9mb_lg
Earthquake near South Hutchinson, KS
USGS: 2 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
66 km (41 mi) NW of Wichita, KS
- When
- 5:08 am CST on 31 January 2017 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) WSW of South Hutchinson, KS · earthquakes near South Hutchinson
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (mb_lg)
- Depth
- 7.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- 69 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Reno County, 13 km SW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2388 days ago
A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) WSW of South Hutchinson, KS, at 5:08 am CST on 31 January 2017 (11:08 UTC). 69 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Hutchinson, Nickerson, Haven, Buhler, Inman, Sterling.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
- 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.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
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 38.0224, -97.9695. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reno County, KS | 13 km (8 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Reno County |
| Rice County, KS | 41 km (26 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Rice County |
| Harvey County, KS | 47 km (29 mi) | E | earthquakes near Harvey County |
| McPherson County, KS | 50 km (31 mi) | NE | earthquakes near McPherson County |
| Kingman County, KS | 54 km (34 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kingman County |
| Sedgwick County, KS | 59 km (36 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Sedgwick County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 5 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 2.2 2 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 2.4 7 km NE of Partridge, Kansas
- 2.2 5 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 2.0 2 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 2.0 4 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 1.8 3 km NW of South Hutchinson, KS
- 4.5 2 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 3.0 3 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 3.1 3 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 2.2 2 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 2.6 5 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 2.1 1 km NNE of Hutchinson, Kansas
- 2.5 5 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
- 2.3 5 km WSW of South Hutchinson, 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.