QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5mb_lg

Earthquake near Hill City, KS

No earthquake was likely felt in Hill City in the 24 hours to 2:26 am CST (08:26 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 12 km (7 mi) ESE, at 5:54 pm CDT on 28 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hill City

This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) south of Hill City, KS, at 5:26 am CDT on 1 June 2025 (10:26 UTC), 11 km deep. 23 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 9 km S of Hill City, Kansas

5:26 am CDT, Jun 1, 2025 · · 11 km deep · released about 2.7 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Hill City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Graham County 9 kmTrego County 40 kmRooks County 44 kmSheridan County 53 kmNorton County 56 kmEllis County 60 kmGove County 69 kmPhillips County 70 kmDecatur County 78 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
5:26 am CDT on 1 June 2025 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) south of Hill City, KS · earthquakes near Hill City
Magnitude
M 3.5 (mb_lg)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
23 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Graham County, 9 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 451 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 306 km (190 mi) from the epicentre. In Hill City, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Hill City 10 km, intensity IV · Ellis 45 km, intensity III · Plainville 46 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.7 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.6× 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 4.6 on 2019-06-22 — 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 39.2789, -99.8333. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Graham County, KS 9 km (6 mi) NNW earthquakes near Graham County
Trego County, KS 40 km (25 mi) S earthquakes near Trego County
Rooks County, KS 44 km (28 mi) E earthquakes near Rooks County
Sheridan County, KS 53 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near Sheridan County
Norton County, KS 56 km (35 mi) N earthquakes near Norton County
Ellis County, KS 60 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Ellis County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 2 km SSW of Bogue, Kansas
  2. 2.5 9 km S of Bogue, Kansas
  3. 2.4 12 km NE of Damar, Kansas
  4. 2.8 10 km SSW of Stockton, Kansas
  5. 2.5 1 km NE of Zurich, Kansas
  6. 2.5 3 km NE of Bogue, Kansas
  7. 2.8 16 km S of Hill City, Kansas
  8. 3.0 2 km SW of Zurich, Kansas
  9. 2.7 2 km E of Hill City, Kansas
  10. 2.6 6 km SE of Hill City, Kansas
  11. 2.7 11 km NW of Stockton, Kansas
  12. 2.1 9 km SW of Bogue, Kansas
  13. 2.7 17 km NNE of Collyer, Kansas
  14. 2.5 7 km S of Hill City, Kansas
  15. 2.4 11 km SSE of Hill City, 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.