The 1867 Manhattan earthquake struck Riley County, Kansas, in the United States on April 24, 1867, at 20:22 UTC, or about 14:30 local time.

The strongest earthquake to originate in the state, it measured 5.1 on a seismic scale that is based on an isoseismal map or the event's felt area.

Felt over an area of 200,000 square miles (520,000 km2), the earthquake reached the states of Indiana, Illinois, and possibly Ohio, though the latter reports have been questioned.

[3] It hosts the Humboldt Fault Zone, which, in addition to serving as the range's easternmost boundary, has produced a large portion of the state's earthquakes.

[5] The Nemaha Range lies roughly 50 miles (80 km) east of the Midcontinent rift, which forms a layer of basaltic rock about 1.1 billion years old.

According to United States Geological Survey geophysicist Don Steeples, earthquakes at the Humboldt Zone have decreased, and activity at the Uplift was increasing as of the 1980s.

[14] Originating at 20:22 UTC, or around 2:30 local time,[15] the earthquake was assigned a maximum Mercalli intensity scale of VII, considered "very strong".

[20] In both Louisville and the city of Leavenworth, chimneys fell;[1] in Paola, the earthquake destroyed one wall of a large Republican newspaper office building.

[1] The city of Atchison felt two shocks, which felled lamps and bottles at a drug store, rocked buildings, and disrupted water flow in rivers and creeks.

[8] In Emporia, the earthquake was accompanied by a low rumbling sound, windows rattled, and small boxes were thrown off of shelves as people fled buildings.

[22] The city of Lawrence felt three earthquakes within 30 seconds, with violent shaking of doors and windows, broken plaster, a rumbling noise, stones knocked off a local church, rattling of silverware and glassware, and the overturning of a stove in one home.

Moreover, saws leaning against walls were moved 6 inches (15 cm), plaster at one home cracked for the entire length of the house's ceiling, and one woman experienced an electrical shock from spring water.

The article "At Kansas City" details that the earthquake jolted homes with a sudden burst, giving off a resonating roar like thunder.

[15] The Tribune observed in its article "At Leavenworth, Kansas" that the earthquake was completely unexpected, describing the event as "[...] sudden in its coming and departure."

An earthquake there would likely destroy the dam, releasing 300,000 feet (91,440 m) of water per second and flooding the nearby area, which would threaten roughly 13,000 people and 5,900 homes.