QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1mb_lg

Earthquake near South Hutchinson, KS

No earthquake was likely felt in South Hutchinson in the 24 hours to 11:48 pm CST (05:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 186 km (116 mi) S, at 6:48 pm CST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near South Hutchinson

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west-southwest of South Hutchinson, KS, at 4:39 pm CDT on 23 October 2019 (21:39 UTC), 4.0 km deep. 125 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas

66 km (41 mi) WNW of Wichita, KS

4:39 pm CDT, Oct 23, 2019 · · 4.0 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near South Hutchinson Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Reno County 12 kmRice County 41 kmHarvey County 47 kmMcPherson County 51 kmKingman County 54 kmSedgwick County 59 kmStafford County 65 kmEllsworth County 78 kmPratt County 79 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
4:39 pm CDT on 23 October 2019 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) west-southwest of South Hutchinson, KS · earthquakes near South Hutchinson
Magnitude
M 3.1 (mb_lg)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
125 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Reno County, 12 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2496 days ago

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 128 km (80 mi) from the epicentre. In South Hutchinson, 3 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: South Hutchinson 3 km, intensity III · Hutchinson 6 km, intensity III · Cheney 47 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.2 on 2019-08-16 — about 45 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 38.0193, -97.9773. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Reno County, KS 12 km (7 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 51 km (32 mi) NE earthquakes near McPherson County
Kingman County, KS 54 km (33 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kingman County
Sedgwick County, KS 59 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Sedgwick County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 4 km SSE of Pretty Prairie, Kansas
  2. 2.2 2 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  3. 2.3 3 km NE of Cheney, Kansas
  4. 2.3 2 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  5. 2.1 5 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  6. 2.2 2 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  7. 2.4 7 km NE of Partridge, Kansas
  8. 2.2 5 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  9. 2.0 2 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  10. 2.0 4 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  11. 1.8 3 km NW of South Hutchinson, KS
  12. 4.5 2 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  13. 3.0 3 km W 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

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