Cluster of 6 earthquakes over 27 hours shakes near Wichita, Kansas geologists say

If you awoke earlier than usual Saturday or Sunday morning, an earthquake may be to blame for interrupting your sleep. There was a cluster of six of them over a 27-hour period within 35 miles of downtown Wichita.

Kansas Geological Survey data shows seismologists recorded four earthquakes Saturday morning, followed by two more Sunday morning. They were all in southwest Sedgwick County.

The first earthquake was also the strongest. It had a magnitude of 3.1 and struck at around 1:34 a.m. Saturday, about 8 miles south of Cheney. That’s about 1 mile from the Kingman County line and about 2 miles from the Sumner County line.

The tremors were followed up by a 2.2 magnitude quake at around 2 a.m., about 2 miles north of the first quake.

The ground shook again at around 3:50 a.m. and 3:54 a.m. Those quakes were recorded as a 2.4 magnitude and a 2.0 magnitude, and both struck in the same area as the first quake.

Geologists didn’t record any more seismic activity, data shows, until Sunday morning, when a 2.4 magnitude quake struck in the same area at around 3:59 a.m. It was followed up at around 4:08 a.m. with a 2.0 magnitude quake just over 1 mile south of Cheney.

The U.S. Geological Survey asks those who felt the tremors to report it online at earthquake.usgs.gov.

The earthquakes hit as the Kansas Corporation Commission is investigating the cause of a swarm of 17 earthquakes in five days in the same area of central Kansas in August. The regulatory agency’s investigation is focused on the underground disposal of oilfield waste that has been blamed for quakes elsewhere in southern Kansas.

This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 4:42 PM.