QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5mb_lg

Earthquake near South Hutchinson, KS

USGS: 5 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas

67 km (42 mi) WNW of Wichita, KS

10:34 am CDT, Sep 15, 2019 · · 1.5 km deep · released about 170 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Reno County 9 kmRice County 42 kmHarvey County 50 kmKingman County 52 kmMcPherson County 53 kmSedgwick County 59 kmStafford County 63 kmPratt County 76 kmEllsworth County 79 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
10:34 am CDT on 15 September 2019 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) WSW of South Hutchinson, KS · earthquakes near South Hutchinson
Magnitude
M 2.5 (mb_lg)
Depth
1.5 km below the surface
Felt
5 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Reno County, 9 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2493 days ago

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) WSW of South Hutchinson, KS, at 10:34 am CDT on 15 September 2019 (15:34 UTC). 5 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: Hutchinson, Nickerson, Haven, Buhler, Sterling.

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 4.2 on 2019-08-16 — 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 38.0058, -97.9991. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Reno County, KS 9 km (6 mi) SW earthquakes near Reno County
Rice County, KS 42 km (26 mi) NNW earthquakes near Rice County
Harvey County, KS 50 km (31 mi) E earthquakes near Harvey County
Kingman County, KS 52 km (32 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kingman County
McPherson County, KS 53 km (33 mi) NE earthquakes near McPherson County
Sedgwick County, KS 59 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Sedgwick County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 4 km SSE of Pretty Prairie, Kansas
  2. 2.2 2 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  3. 2.3 3 km NE of Cheney, Kansas
  4. 2.3 2 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  5. 2.1 5 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  6. 2.2 2 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  7. 2.4 7 km NE of Partridge, Kansas
  8. 2.2 5 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  9. 2.0 2 km WNW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  10. 2.0 4 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  11. 1.8 3 km NW of South Hutchinson, KS
  12. 4.5 2 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  13. 3.0 3 km W of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  14. 3.1 3 km WSW of South Hutchinson, Kansas
  15. 2.2 2 km W of South Hutchinson, 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.