QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4mb_lg

Earthquake near Hill City, KS

No earthquake was likely felt in Hill City in the 24 hours to 12:08 am CST (06:08 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 12 km (7 mi) ESE, at 5:54 pm CDT on 28 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hill City

This page: a magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) southeast of Hill City, KS, at 8:54 am CDT on 5 July 2025 (13:54 UTC), 6.6 km deep.

USGS: 8 km SSW of Bogue, Kansas

8:54 am CDT, Jul 5, 2025 · · 6.6 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Graham County 16 kmRooks County 34 kmTrego County 43 kmEllis County 54 kmNorton County 57 kmSheridan County 63 kmPhillips County 64 kmGove County 79 kmOsborne County 81 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
8:54 am CDT on 5 July 2025 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) southeast of Hill City, KS · earthquakes near Hill City
Magnitude
M 2.4 (mb_lg)
Depth
6.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Graham County, 16 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 426 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 41 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Hill City, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Hill City 14 km, intensity III · Plainville 36 km, intensity II · Ellis 41 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 39.2879, -99.7121. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Graham County, KS 16 km (10 mi) WNW earthquakes near Graham County
Rooks County, KS 34 km (21 mi) E earthquakes near Rooks County
Trego County, KS 43 km (27 mi) SSW earthquakes near Trego County
Ellis County, KS 54 km (33 mi) SE earthquakes near Ellis County
Norton County, KS 57 km (36 mi) NNW earthquakes near Norton County
Sheridan County, KS 63 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Sheridan County

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

Aftershocks so far

21 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. 2.6 14 km WSW of Natoma, Kansas
  9. 2.5 3 km NE of Bogue, Kansas
  10. 2.8 16 km S of Hill City, Kansas
  11. 3.0 2 km SW of Zurich, Kansas
  12. 2.7 2 km E of Hill City, Kansas
  13. 2.6 6 km SE of Hill City, Kansas
  14. 2.7 11 km NW of Stockton, Kansas
  15. 2.1 9 km SW 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.