QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5mb_lg

Kansas

Yes. A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in Kansas, at 12:22 am CST on 24 January 2023 (06:22 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

· 5.0 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Morris County 22 kmDickinson County 29 kmGeary County 36 kmMarion County 41 kmChase County 51 kmSaline County 66 kmWabaunsee County 68 kmRiley County 68 kmLyon 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
no reports yet
Nearest
Morris County, 22 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1310 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 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Herington 4 km, intensity III · Junction City 38 km, intensity II · Marion 39 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2021-12-08 — about 500 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 38.6917, -96.9035. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Morris County, KS 22 km (14 mi) E earthquakes near Morris County
Dickinson County, KS 29 km (18 mi) NW earthquakes near Dickinson County
Geary County, KS 36 km (23 mi) NNE earthquakes near Geary County
Marion County, KS 41 km (25 mi) SSW earthquakes near Marion County
Chase County, KS 51 km (32 mi) SSE earthquakes near Chase County
Saline County, KS 66 km (41 mi) W earthquakes near Saline County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 5 km SW of Hope, Kansas
  2. 2.6 6 km NW of Ramona, Kansas
  3. 2.7 7 km SE of Enterprise, Kansas
  4. 2.4 5 km NE of Hope, Kansas
  5. 3.5 5 km NNW of Herington, Kansas
  6. 2.6 7 km ESE of Marion, Kansas
  7. 3.5 6 km WSW of Woodbine, Kansas
  8. 2.7 6 km NE of Cedar Point, Kansas
  9. 2.7 3 km SSE of Solomon, Kansas
  10. 2.4 2 km S of Marion, Kansas
  11. 2.4 14 km ESE of Lincolnville, Kansas
  12. 2.5 13 km ENE of Marion, Kansas
  13. 2.3 11 km N of Hope, Kansas
  14. 2.5 14 km SE of Lincolnville, Kansas
  15. 2.3 14 km N of Cedar Point, 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.