Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9mb_lg
Earthquake near Plainville, KS
USGS: 2 km E of Zurich, Kansas
- When
- 8:11 am CDT on 8 September 2019 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) W of Plainville, KS · earthquakes near Plainville
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (mb_lg)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 9 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Rooks County, 14 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2498 days ago
A magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) W of Plainville, KS, at 8:11 am CDT on 8 September 2019 (13:11 UTC). 9 people have 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: Stockton.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 4.6 on 2019-06-22 — about 350 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 39.2369, -99.4042. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rooks County, KS | 14 km (9 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Rooks County |
| Ellis County, KS | 37 km (23 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ellis County |
| Graham County, KS | 43 km (27 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Graham County |
| Trego County, KS | 53 km (33 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Trego County |
| Osborne County, KS | 56 km (35 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Osborne County |
| Phillips County, KS | 61 km (38 mi) | N | earthquakes near Phillips County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.0 2 km SSW of Bogue, Kansas
- 2.5 9 km S of Bogue, Kansas
- 2.5 9 km SW of Natoma, Kansas
- 2.4 12 km NE of Damar, Kansas
- 2.9 7 km N of Hays, Kansas
- 2.9 5 km SW of Kirwin, Kansas
- 2.8 10 km SSW of Stockton, Kansas
- 2.8 8 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
- 3.3 7 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
- 2.5 1 km NE of Zurich, Kansas
- 2.5 11 km NNE of Stockton, Kansas
- 2.6 14 km WSW of Natoma, Kansas
- 2.5 3 km NE of Bogue, Kansas
- 2.8 16 km S of Hill City, Kansas
- 3.0 4 km SE of Paradise, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.