Seismic activity in Kansas: history and statistics of Dickinson County earthquakes

Did you know there is a tectonic feature called the Abilene Anticline? While the anticline is not the cause of earthquakes in Dickinson County, the county sits between two tectonic features that do. Part one of this two-part series will discuss the geographic causes of earthquakes in Dickinson County and county earthquake statistics.

The majority of earthquakes in the county occur in the southeastern area of Dickinson County, above Hope and Herington, and the western county line around and below Solomon, according to an interactive map by the Kansas Geological Survey and Shelby Peterie, research geophysicist for the survey. The county sits between the Midcontinent Geophysical Anomaly, which is to the west, and the Nehama Ridge, which is to the east. Both features, Peterie said, are probably responsible for the earthquakes on the west and east sides of the county. 

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