QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9mb_lg

11 km SSE of Esbon, Kansas

· 5.0 km deep · released about 680 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Jewell County 15 kmSmith County 34 kmMitchell County 40 kmWebster County 51 kmOsborne County 53 kmNuckolls County 58 kmRepublic County 64 kmCloud County 70 kmFranklin County 70 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 2.9 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Jewell County, 15 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1820 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. 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.

Where

Epicentre 39.7281, -98.3904. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Jewell County, KS 15 km (10 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Jewell County
Smith County, KS 34 km (21 mi) E of here earthquakes near Smith County
Mitchell County, KS 40 km (25 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Mitchell County
Webster County, NE 51 km (32 mi) S of here earthquakes near Webster County
Osborne County, KS 53 km (33 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Osborne County
Nuckolls County, NE 58 km (36 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Nuckolls County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 7 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
  2. 2.8 4 km ESE of Cowles, Nebraska
  3. 2.5 6 km ESE of Cowles, Nebraska
  4. 2.6 8 km N of Guide Rock, Nebraska
  5. 2.6 9 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
  6. 2.3 3 km S of Cowles, Nebraska
  7. 2.5 4 km NNE of Jewell, Kansas
  8. 2.6 15 km SSW of Riverton, Nebraska
  9. 2.6 5 km WSW of Formoso, Kansas
  10. 2.7 4 km SE of Glen Elder, Kansas
  11. 2.5 1 km NNW of Glen Elder, Kansas
  12. 2.5 1 km NNE of Glen Elder, Kansas
  13. 2.1 0 km N of Glen Elder, Kansas
  14. 2.8 2 km NNE of Glen Elder, Kansas
  15. 2.9 2 km NE of Glen Elder, 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.