QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5mb_lg

Kansas

· 5.0 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Dickinson County 14 kmSaline County 30 kmOttawa County 43 kmGeary County 50 kmClay County 55 kmMarion County 59 kmMcPherson County 59 kmMorris County 61 kmRiley 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 2.5 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Dickinson County, 14 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1749 days ago

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded at Kansas at 16:23 UTC on 2021-10-12. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Solomon, Abilene, Salina, Chapman.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

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 38.8599, -97.3138. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Dickinson County, KS 14 km (8 mi) E earthquakes near Dickinson County
Saline County, KS 30 km (19 mi) WSW earthquakes near Saline County
Ottawa County, KS 43 km (27 mi) NW earthquakes near Ottawa County
Geary County, KS 50 km (31 mi) ENE earthquakes near Geary County
Clay County, KS 55 km (34 mi) NNE earthquakes near Clay County
Marion County, KS 59 km (36 mi) SSE earthquakes near Marion County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 11 km N of Hope, Kansas
  2. 2.8 7 km SW of Gypsum, Kansas
  3. 3.3 6 km N of Bennington, Kansas
  4. 2.5 Kansas
  5. 2.8 7 km SW of Woodbine, Kansas
  6. 2.5 6 km E of New Cambria, Kansas
  7. 2.4 Kansas
  8. 3.0 8 km NNW of Roxbury, Kansas
  9. 2.4 5 km NNE of Hope, Kansas
  10. 2.5 5 km W of Woodbine, Kansas
  11. 2.7 6 km E of Assaria, Kansas
  12. 2.6 7 km WSW of Gypsum, Kansas
  13. 3.0 7 km SW of Gypsum, Kansas
  14. 2.3 6 km WSW of Woodbine, Kansas
  15. 2.2 8 km WSW of Woodbine, 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.