Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Wellington, KS
No earthquake was likely felt in Wellington in the 24 hours to 10:54 am CST (16:54 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) west of Wellington, KS, at 1:57 am CST on 21 December 2016 (07:57 UTC), 4.2 km deep.
USGS: 1 km SE of Mayfield, Kansas
52 km (32 mi) SSW of Wichita, KS
- When
- 1:57 am CST on 21 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 14 km (9 mi) west of Wellington, KS · earthquakes near Wellington
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Sumner County, 3 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3601 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Wellington, KS
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This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Wellington, 14 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Conway Springs, Caldwell, Belle Plaine, Clearwater.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2016-11-25 — about 4,700 times the energy of this one.
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 37.2490, -97.5277. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sumner County, KS | 3 km (2 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Sumner County |
| Harper County, KS | 48 km (30 mi) | W | earthquakes near Harper County |
| Sedgwick County, KS | 48 km (30 mi) | N | earthquakes near Sedgwick County |
| Grant County, OK | 56 km (35 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Kay County, OK | 59 km (37 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kay County |
| Cowley County, KS | 61 km (38 mi) | E | earthquakes near Cowley County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.1 7 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
- 2.8 7 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
- 1.7 4 km SE of Freeport, Kansas
- 1.9 9 km WNW of South Haven, Kansas
- 3.2 0 km ENE of Renfrow, Oklahoma
- 1.8 9 km S of Milton, Kansas
- 2.1 9 km W of Bluff City, Kansas
- 1.6 6 km E of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 2.3 5 km E of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 1.6 3 km WSW of Freeport, Kansas
- 2.1 3 km WSW of Freeport, Kansas
- 1.8 7 km SE of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.0 4 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
- 1.9 4 km E of Bluff City, Kansas
- 1.8 4 km E 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.