Kansas Ending 2023 by Having Another Strange Earthquake

It's appropriate that after a year of relatively strange earthquakes, Kansas is ending the year the way it started as another quake felt by many just happened in the middle of the state.

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The USGS has confirmed that a rather strong (by Kansas standards) earthquake was felt just to the northeast of Bennington, Kansas this morning. A seismologist from the USGS has confirmed that it measured a 3.7 on the Richter Scale. It occurred at 10:34am central time Sunday morning, December 31,2023 and already there are dozens that report they felt it.

What has been causing the uptick of Kansas earthquakes?

The main zone is known as the Humboldt Fault which extends from Nebraska through almost all of the east-central part of Kansas. As the University of Kansas mentions, the state is ranked 45th out of 50 for earthquake activity in America so these measurable quakes are unusual, but not totally unexpected. The University of Kansas mentions that one of the largest quakes in recent history was a 4.9 back in 2014. That's quite a jolt for a state known more for its sunflowers and long stretches of interstate than earthquakes.

You might recall that we shared that Kansas had another moderate quake that was felt around the start of November. The quake that has just rattled Kansas early Sunday morning was centered just north of I-70 above Salina, but a 3.7 isn't nearly large enough to be felt if you're driving.

We'll see if the ground is done shaking for 2023 in Kansas or if this is a precursor to another strangely seismically-active year along the plains.