QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6mb_lg

15 km SSW of Riverton, Nebraska

· 5.0 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Smith County 21 kmFranklin County 25 kmWebster County 38 kmPhillips County 47 kmHarlan County 52 kmJewell County 58 kmKearney County 60 kmAdams County 68 kmOsborne 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 2.6 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Smith County, 21 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 401 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 39.9715, -98.8500. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Smith County, KS 21 km (13 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Smith County
Franklin County, NE 25 km (16 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Webster County, NE 38 km (24 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Webster County
Phillips County, KS 47 km (29 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Phillips County
Harlan County, NE 52 km (33 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Harlan County
Jewell County, KS 58 km (36 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Jewell County

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

Aftershocks so far

9 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. 2.4 4 km ENE of Cowles, Nebraska
  5. 2.6 8 km N of Guide Rock, Nebraska
  6. 2.6 9 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
  7. 2.3 3 km S of Cowles, Nebraska
  8. 4.1 4 km E of Cowles, Nebraska
  9. 2.9 5 km SW of Kirwin, 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.