QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6mb_lg

Earthquake near Hill City, KS

USGS: 7 km SSE of Hill City, Kansas

6:45 pm CST, Dec 1, 2024 · · 9.4 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hill City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Graham County 8 kmTrego County 42 kmRooks County 43 kmSheridan County 53 kmNorton County 54 kmEllis County 61 kmPhillips County 68 kmGove County 71 kmDecatur 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
6:45 pm CST on 1 December 2024 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) SSE of Hill City, KS · earthquakes near Hill City
Magnitude
M 2.6 (mb_lg)
Depth
9.4 km below the surface
Felt
16 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Graham County, 8 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 489 days ago

A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) SSE of Hill City, KS, at 6:45 pm CST on 1 December 2024 (00:45 UTC). 16 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.

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 39.3007, -99.8227. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Graham County, KS 8 km (5 mi) NW earthquakes near Graham County
Trego County, KS 42 km (26 mi) S earthquakes near Trego County
Rooks County, KS 43 km (27 mi) E earthquakes near Rooks County
Sheridan County, KS 53 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near Sheridan County
Norton County, KS 54 km (34 mi) N earthquakes near Norton County
Ellis County, KS 61 km (38 mi) SE earthquakes near Ellis County

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

Aftershocks so far

28 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. 2.4 12 km NE of Damar, Kansas
  4. 2.8 10 km SSW of Stockton, Kansas
  5. 2.8 8 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
  6. 3.3 7 km NNW of Stockton, Kansas
  7. 2.5 1 km NE of Zurich, Kansas
  8. 2.5 3 km NE of Bogue, Kansas
  9. 2.8 16 km S of Hill City, Kansas
  10. 3.0 2 km SW of Zurich, Kansas
  11. 2.7 2 km E of Hill City, Kansas
  12. 2.6 6 km SE of Hill City, Kansas
  13. 2.7 11 km NW of Stockton, Kansas
  14. 2.1 9 km SW of Bogue, Kansas
  15. 2.7 17 km NNE of Collyer, 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.