QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4mb_lg

Earthquake near Plainville, KS

No earthquake was likely felt in Plainville in the 24 hours to 10:19 pm CST (04:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 53 km (33 mi) ESE, at 12:18 pm CDT on 15 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Plainville

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) south-southeast of Plainville, KS, at 12:47 pm CDT on 2 September 2022 (17:47 UTC), 3.5 km deep.

USGS: 16 km SSE of Plainville, Kansas

12:47 pm CDT, Sep 2, 2022 · · 3.5 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ellis County 23 kmRooks County 29 kmRussell County 43 kmOsborne County 47 kmTrego County 61 kmGraham County 65 kmRush County 65 kmPhillips County 77 kmBarton 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
12:47 pm CDT on 2 September 2022 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) south-southeast of Plainville, KS · earthquakes near Plainville
Magnitude
M 2.4 (mb_lg)
Depth
3.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ellis County, 23 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1467 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 42 km (26 mi) from the epicentre. In Plainville, 17 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Likely felt in: Plainville 17 km, intensity II · Hays 27 km, intensity II · Ellis 36 km, intensity II · Russell 37 km, intensity II · Stockton 38 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 89,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.9× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 2,000 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 39.1012, -99.2041. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ellis County, KS 23 km (14 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ellis County
Rooks County, KS 29 km (18 mi) NNW earthquakes near Rooks County
Russell County, KS 43 km (27 mi) ESE earthquakes near Russell County
Osborne County, KS 47 km (29 mi) NE earthquakes near Osborne County
Trego County, KS 61 km (38 mi) WSW earthquakes near Trego County
Graham County, KS 65 km (40 mi) WNW earthquakes near Graham County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 7 km SSW of Luray, 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. 2.8 10 km SSW of Stockton, Kansas
  7. 2.8 8 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
  8. 3.3 7 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
  9. 2.5 1 km NE of Zurich, Kansas
  10. 2.5 11 km NNE of Stockton, Kansas
  11. 2.6 14 km WSW of Natoma, Kansas
  12. 3.0 4 km SE of Paradise, Kansas
  13. 3.0 2 km SW of Zurich, Kansas
  14. 2.7 11 km NW of Stockton, Kansas
  15. 2.4 8 km SSW of Bogue, 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.