QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4mb_lg

Kansas

· 5.0 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Saline County 19 kmMcPherson County 32 kmDickinson County 38 kmMarion County 49 kmOttawa County 54 kmEllsworth County 61 kmHarvey County 68 kmRice County 70 kmMorris County 74 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 2.4 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Saline County, 19 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1676 days ago

A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded at Kansas at 20:32 UTC on 2021-12-17. 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: Lindsborg, Salina.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 4.3 on 2021-12-08 — about 710 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 38.6627, -97.5046. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Saline County, KS 19 km (12 mi) NW earthquakes near Saline County
McPherson County, KS 32 km (20 mi) SSW earthquakes near McPherson County
Dickinson County, KS 38 km (23 mi) NE earthquakes near Dickinson County
Marion County, KS 49 km (30 mi) SE earthquakes near Marion County
Ottawa County, KS 54 km (34 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ottawa County
Ellsworth County, KS 61 km (38 mi) W earthquakes near Ellsworth 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. 2.7 3 km E of Assaria, Kansas
  2. 3.4 6 km ENE of Assaria, Kansas
  3. 2.4 5 km NE of Hope, Kansas
  4. 2.6 7 km SW of Gypsum, Kansas
  5. 3.5 5 km NNW of Herington, Kansas
  6. 2.7 2 km SW of Assaria, Kansas
  7. 2.4 3 km ENE of Assaria, Kansas
  8. 2.7 4 km WSW of Assaria, Kansas
  9. 2.6 0 km SSW of Assaria, Kansas
  10. 3.5 6 km WSW of Woodbine, Kansas
  11. 2.5 3 km NNW of Assaria, Kansas
  12. 2.4 0 km N of Assaria, Kansas
  13. 2.5 4 km SSE of Smolan, Kansas
  14. 2.2 5 km N of Assaria, Kansas
  15. 2.5 4 km E of Assaria, 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.