QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.8mb

15 km NW of Elmdale, Kansas

· 5.0 km deep · released about 7.6 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Morris County 24 kmChase County 25 kmMarion County 34 kmLyon County 51 kmDickinson County 55 kmGeary County 57 kmWabaunsee County 70 kmHarvey County 77 kmMcPherson 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
Magnitude
M 3.8 (mb)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
51 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Morris County, 24 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2488 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 51 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.8 about 7.6 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 16× 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.

Where

Epicentre 38.4870, -96.7491. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Morris County, KS 24 km (15 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Morris County
Chase County, KS 25 km (15 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Chase County
Marion County, KS 34 km (21 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Marion County
Lyon County, KS 51 km (32 mi) W of here earthquakes near Lyon County
Dickinson County, KS 55 km (34 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Dickinson County
Geary County, KS 57 km (36 mi) S of here earthquakes near Geary County

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

Aftershocks so far

59 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. 2.4 2 km S of Marion, Kansas
  10. 2.4 14 km ESE of Lincolnville, Kansas
  11. 2.5 13 km ENE of Marion, Kansas
  12. 2.3 11 km N of Hope, Kansas
  13. 2.5 14 km SE of Lincolnville, Kansas
  14. 2.3 14 km N of Cedar Point, Kansas
  15. 3.2 13 km SE of Lincolnville, 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.