View source for Humboldt Fault

{{Short description|Geological fault in Kansas and Nebraska, US}}
[[File:Humboldt Fault.svg|thumb|350px|The Humboldt Fault (red) and [[Midcontinent Rift System]] (green) in Kansas and Nebraska]]
The '''Humboldt Fault''' or '''Humboldt Fault Zone''', is a [[normal fault]] or series of faults, that extends from [[Nebraska]] southwestwardly through most of [[Kansas]].<ref>from the [[Kansas Geological Survey]] (at the [[University of Kansas]]) [http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Oil/primer05.html site], oil geology page, accessed on December 16, 2006</ref>

Kansas is not particularly earthquake prone, ranking 45th out of 50 states by damage caused.<ref name=KGS>[[Kansas Geological Survey|KGS]] cite of [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] [http://www.kgs.ku.edu/General/News/2000/earthquake.html report], accessed on December 16, 2006</ref> However, the north-central part of the state, particularly [[Riley County, Kansas|Riley]] and [[Pottawatomie County, Kansas|Pottawatomie]] counties, is the most prone to earthquakes. The Humboldt Fault had the largest earthquake in Kansas history with the [[1867 Manhattan, Kansas earthquake]]. It happened near the town of [[Wamego, Kansas|Wamego]] and was estimated at 5.5 on the [[Richter scale]]. Reportedly it was felt as far away as [[Dubuque, Iowa|Dubuque]], [[Iowa]].<ref name=KGS/>

==See also==
* [[Extensional tectonics]]
* [[Midcontinent Rift System]]
* [[Nemaha Ridge]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{coord missing|Kansas}}

{{Faults}}

[[Category:Geology of Kansas]]
[[Category:Geology of Nebraska]]
[[Category:Seismic faults of the United States]]
[[Category:Geography of Omaha, Nebraska]]


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