QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2mb_lg

Earthquake near Plainville, KS

USGS: 2 km SSE of Zurich, Kansas

10:47 pm CDT, Jul 27, 2019 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 60 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rooks County 17 kmEllis County 35 kmGraham County 42 kmTrego County 50 kmOsborne County 58 kmPhillips County 63 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
10:47 pm CDT on 27 July 2019 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) W of Plainville, KS · earthquakes near Plainville
Magnitude
M 2.2 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Rooks County, 17 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2548 days ago

A magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) W of Plainville, KS, at 10:47 pm CDT on 27 July 2019 (03:47 UTC). 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Stockton.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 60 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 60 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 4.6 on 2019-06-22 — about 4,000 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 39.2191, -99.4251. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rooks County, KS 17 km (10 mi) NNE earthquakes near Rooks County
Ellis County, KS 35 km (22 mi) SSE earthquakes near Ellis County
Graham County, KS 42 km (26 mi) WNW earthquakes near Graham County
Trego County, KS 50 km (31 mi) SW earthquakes near Trego County
Osborne County, KS 58 km (36 mi) ENE earthquakes near Osborne County
Phillips County, KS 63 km (39 mi) N earthquakes near Phillips County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

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