QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6mb_lg

Earthquake near Plainville, KS

USGS: 6 km NE of Zurich, Kansas

6:33 pm CDT, Oct 3, 2019 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Rooks County 10 kmEllis County 41 kmGraham County 43 kmOsborne County 55 kmPhillips County 57 kmTrego County 57 kmRussell County 67 kmNorton County 71 kmSmith County 77 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
6:33 pm CDT on 3 October 2019 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) WNW of Plainville, KS · earthquakes near Plainville
Magnitude
M 2.6 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Rooks County, 10 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2471 days ago

A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) WNW of Plainville, KS, at 6:33 pm CDT on 3 October 2019 (23:33 UTC). 2 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 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.6 on 2019-06-22 — about 1,000 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 39.2770, -99.3951. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Rooks County, KS 10 km (6 mi) NE earthquakes near Rooks County
Ellis County, KS 41 km (25 mi) S earthquakes near Ellis County
Graham County, KS 43 km (26 mi) WNW earthquakes near Graham County
Osborne County, KS 55 km (34 mi) E earthquakes near Osborne County
Phillips County, KS 57 km (35 mi) N earthquakes near Phillips County
Trego County, KS 57 km (35 mi) SW earthquakes near Trego County

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

Aftershocks so far

54 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. 2.5 9 km SW of Natoma, Kansas
  4. 2.4 12 km NE of Damar, Kansas
  5. 2.9 7 km N of Hays, Kansas
  6. 2.9 5 km SW of Kirwin, Kansas
  7. 2.8 10 km SSW of Stockton, Kansas
  8. 2.8 8 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
  9. 3.3 7 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
  10. 2.5 1 km NE of Zurich, Kansas
  11. 2.5 11 km NNE of Stockton, Kansas
  12. 2.6 14 km WSW of Natoma, Kansas
  13. 2.5 3 km NE of Bogue, Kansas
  14. 2.8 16 km S of Hill City, Kansas
  15. 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.