QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.6mww

2 km SSE of Zurich, Kansas

· 3.0 km deep · released about 120 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rooks County 17 kmEllis County 35 kmGraham County 42 kmTrego County 50 kmOsborne County 59 kmPhillips County 64 kmRussell County 66 kmNorton County 75 kmRush County 78 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 4.6 (mww)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
1219 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Measured shaking
intensity VI (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Nearest
Rooks County, 17 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2270 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon. 1219 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 1,400× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.6 about 120 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 250× more

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 39.2160, -99.4259. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Rooks County, KS 17 km (10 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Rooks County
Ellis County, KS 35 km (22 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Ellis County
Graham County, KS 42 km (26 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Graham County
Trego County, KS 50 km (31 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Trego County
Osborne County, KS 59 km (36 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Osborne County
Phillips County, KS 64 km (40 mi) S of here earthquakes near Phillips County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 9 km SW of Natoma, Kansas
  2. 2.4 12 km NE of Damar, Kansas
  3. 2.9 7 km N of Hays, Kansas
  4. 2.8 10 km SSW of Stockton, Kansas
  5. 2.8 8 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
  6. 3.3 7 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
  7. 2.5 1 km NE of Zurich, Kansas
  8. 2.5 11 km NNE of Stockton, Kansas
  9. 2.6 14 km WSW of Natoma, Kansas
  10. 2.5 3 km NE of Bogue, Kansas
  11. 2.8 16 km S of Hill City, Kansas
  12. 3.0 4 km SE of Paradise, Kansas
  13. 3.0 2 km SW of Zurich, Kansas
  14. 2.7 2 km E of Hill City, Kansas
  15. 2.6 6 km SE of Hill 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.