Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.0mwr
Earthquake near Wellington, KS
No earthquake was likely felt in Wellington in the 24 hours to 10:48 am CST (16:48 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 4.0 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) south of Wellington, KS, at 9:34 pm CST on 15 January 2019 (03:34 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 474 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4 km ENE of South Haven, Kansas
70 km (43 mi) S of Wichita, KS
- When
- 9:34 pm CST on 15 January 2019 ()
- Where
- 22 km (14 mi) south of Wellington, KS · earthquakes near Wellington
- Magnitude
- M 4.0 (mwr)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 474 reports · strongest reported intensity VI
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Nearest
- Sumner County, 23 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2428 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Wellington, KS
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Wellington, KS. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 461 km (286 mi) from the epicentre. In Wellington, 22 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Wellington 22 km, intensity IV · Caldwell 23 km, intensity IV · Blackwell 30 km, intensity IV · Belle Plaine 37 km, intensity IV · Conway Springs 44 km, intensity III · Ponca City 46 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 11,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.0 about 15 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 32× more
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 4.1 on 2017-03-29 — about 1.4 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 37.0649, -97.3543. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sumner County, KS | 23 km (14 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Sumner County |
| Kay County, OK | 34 km (21 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kay County |
| Grant County, OK | 49 km (31 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Cowley County, KS | 50 km (31 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Cowley County |
| Harper County, KS | 65 km (40 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Harper County |
| Sedgwick County, KS | 69 km (43 mi) | N | earthquakes near Sedgwick County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.7 10 km SSE of Milan, Kansas
- 2.6 2 km ENE of Medford, Oklahoma
- 1.9 2 km SE of Milan, Kansas
- 1.8 7 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
- 1.9 7 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
- 1.6 6 km NNW of Nardin, Oklahoma
- 1.9 8 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
- 2.6 7 km NNW of Medford, Oklahoma
- 2.0 8 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
- 2.5 7 km NNW of Medford, Oklahoma
- 1.7 7 km ENE of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.4 2 km ENE of Medford, Oklahoma
- 2.1 5 km NNE of Medford, Oklahoma
- 1.6 2 km SSE of Bluff City, Kansas
- 2.2 5 km W of South Haven, 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.