QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2mb_lg

Earthquake near Salina, KS

USGS: 7 km N of Bennington, Kansas

8:28 pm CDT, Nov 3, 2023 · · 10 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ottawa County 7 kmSaline County 35 kmCloud County 44 kmDickinson County 45 kmClay County 45 kmLincoln County 55 kmMitchell County 63 kmEllsworth County 70 kmGeary County 71 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
8:28 pm CDT on 3 November 2023 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) N of Salina, KS · earthquakes near Salina
Magnitude
M 3.2 (mb_lg)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
26 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Ottawa County, 7 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 997 days ago

A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) N of Salina, KS, at 8:28 pm CDT on 3 November 2023 (01:28 UTC). 26 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: Minneapolis, Solomon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2021-12-15 — about 16 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 39.0985, -97.5843. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ottawa County, KS 7 km (5 mi) NW earthquakes near Ottawa County
Saline County, KS 35 km (21 mi) S earthquakes near Saline County
Cloud County, KS 44 km (27 mi) N earthquakes near Cloud County
Dickinson County, KS 45 km (28 mi) SE earthquakes near Dickinson County
Clay County, KS 45 km (28 mi) NE earthquakes near Clay County
Lincoln County, KS 55 km (34 mi) W earthquakes near Lincoln County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.5 6 km E of Assaria, Kansas
  2. 2.9 7 km WSW of Gypsum, Kansas
  3. 3.3 5 km E of Assaria, Kansas
  4. 3.3 7 km ENE of Assaria, Kansas
  5. 2.7 3 km E of Assaria, Kansas
  6. 3.4 6 km ENE of Assaria, Kansas
  7. 2.6 7 km SW of Gypsum, Kansas
  8. 2.7 2 km SW of Assaria, Kansas
  9. 2.4 3 km ENE of Assaria, Kansas
  10. 2.7 4 km WSW of Assaria, Kansas
  11. 2.6 0 km SSW of Assaria, Kansas
  12. 2.5 3 km NNW of Assaria, Kansas
  13. 2.4 0 km N of Assaria, Kansas
  14. 2.5 4 km SSE of Smolan, Kansas
  15. 2.2 5 km N of Assaria, 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.