Kansas earthquakes

M3.7 earthquake 8 km NNW of Caldwell, Kansas

A magnitude 3.7 earthquake struck 8 km NNW of Caldwell, Kansas on Tue, Mar 24, 2015, 10:31 AM CDT (15:31 UTC), 6 km (4 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M4.0 11 km ENE of Nescatunga, Oklahoma. This one was a foreshock.

Caldwell forecast More in Kansas

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 3.7 (Mwr, regional moment), minor
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Tue, Mar 24, 2015, 10:31 AM CDT
UTC: 2015-03-24 15:31:51 UTC
Depth: 5.9 km (3.7 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 37.105° N, 97.650° W
Region: Kansas
Felt reports: 18
Strongest shaking: IV, light shaking
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
3.7	Mwr, regional moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · ±0.069 · 20 stations
3.87	ML, local (Richter)	ISMPKANSAS	Final · ±0.183 · 20 stations

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

Felt (II) at Wichita. Also felt at Bluff City, Danville, Derby, Dodge City, Garden Plain, Hillsboro, Lawrence, Maize and Newton.

From the USGS event page for us10001q97. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

Shaking

The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.

Strongest estimated: IV, light shaking
Map: Automatic

USGS ShakeMap: estimated shaking intensity around the epicenter — Estimated shaking intensity. Map: USGS ShakeMap.

Did you feel it?

18 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was V, moderate shaking.

Fault motion and ground failure

How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.

Faulting: Strike-slip
Moment magnitude: 3.7 Mwr
Nodal plane 1: Strike 6°, dip 86°, rake -179°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 276°, dip 89°, rake -4°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty: About 1.2 km horizontally, 4.7 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty: ±0.07
Depth from: FROM_LOCATION
Station coverage gap: 62°
Stations used: 35

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: at least 200 in the 60 days after this one and at least 200 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of at least 200.

Before

Earthquakes today Kansas earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us10001q97 (also filed as ismpkansas70086688). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 5:13 PM UTC.