Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3ml
Earthquake near Wellington, KS
No earthquake was likely felt in Wellington in the 24 hours to 4:11 pm CST (22:11 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 194 km (120 mi) SSW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Wellington
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) southwest of Wellington, KS, at 9:39 am CDT on 31 July 2016 (14:39 UTC), 5.5 km deep.
USGS: 9 km SE of Bluff City, Kansas
85 km (53 mi) SSW of Wichita, KS
- When
- 9:39 am CDT on 31 July 2016 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) southwest of Wellington, KS · earthquakes near Wellington
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Grant County, 26 km S
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3752 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Wellington, KS
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Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 38 km (24 mi) from the epicentre. In Wellington, 47 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Likely felt in: Caldwell 17 km, intensity II · Anthony 25 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 91 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 91 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 37.0197, -97.8002. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grant County, OK | 26 km (16 mi) | S | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Harper County, KS | 30 km (19 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Harper County |
| Sumner County, KS | 36 km (23 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Sumner County |
| Alfalfa County, OK | 57 km (35 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Alfalfa County |
| Kay County, OK | 63 km (39 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kay County |
| Kingman County, KS | 67 km (41 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kingman County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.1 8 km ESE of Pond Creek, Oklahoma
- 2.6 6 km NNE of Wakita, Oklahoma
- 3.0 6 km N of Wakita, Oklahoma
- 1.8 6 km ENE of Caldwell, Kansas
- 1.9 6 km ENE of Caldwell, Kansas
- 2.9 8 km W of Wakita, Oklahoma
- 1.6 7 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
- 1.6 7 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.7 8 km ENE of Caldwell, Kansas
- 2.2 2 km S of Anthony, Kansas
- 1.7 6 km E of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 1.8 7 km ENE of Caldwell, Kansas
- 2.2 7 km SW of Danville, Kansas
- 2.2 5 km SSE of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.7 5 km SSE of Bluff City, Kansas
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.