Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Harper, KS
No earthquake was likely felt in Harper in the 24 hours to 10:48 am CST (16:48 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 14 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Harper, KS, at 11:04 pm CST on 16 December 2016 (05:04 UTC), 4.6 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3 km SSE of Danville, Kansas
67 km (42 mi) SW of Wichita, KS
- When
- 11:04 pm CST on 16 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 14 km (8 mi) east-southeast of Harper, KS · earthquakes near Harper
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- 3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Harper County, 18 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3528 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 73 km (45 mi) from the epicentre. In Harper, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Anthony 18 km, intensity III · Conway Springs 25 km, intensity III · Caldwell 35 km, intensity III · Cheney 42 km, intensity II · Wellington 45 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 32 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 37.2580, -97.8772. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harper County, KS | 18 km (11 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Harper County |
| Sumner County, KS | 34 km (21 mi) | E | earthquakes near Sumner County |
| Kingman County, KS | 40 km (25 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kingman County |
| Grant County, OK | 53 km (33 mi) | S | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Sedgwick County, KS | 60 km (37 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Sedgwick County |
| Alfalfa County, OK | 71 km (44 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Alfalfa 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.
- 1.7 8 km N of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 2.1 9 km W of Bluff City, Kansas
- 1.6 6 km E of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 2.3 5 km E of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 1.6 3 km WSW of Freeport, Kansas
- 2.1 3 km WSW of Freeport, Kansas
- 1.8 7 km SE of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.0 4 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
- 1.9 4 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
- 1.8 4 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.1 4 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.1 5 km N of Harper, Kansas
- 1.8 3 km N of Freeport, Kansas
- 1.9 7 km SE of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.0 6 km WSW 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.