QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2mb_lg

Earthquake near Wellington, KS

No earthquake was likely felt in Wellington in the 24 hours to 8:13 am CST (14:13 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 2.2 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) south of Wellington, KS, at 6:25 pm CST on 17 February 2019 (00:25 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 6 km NE of South Haven, Kansas

67 km (42 mi) S of Wichita, KS

6:25 pm CST, Feb 17, 2019 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 60 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Sumner County 21 kmKay County 35 kmCowley County 48 kmGrant County 51 kmHarper County 65 kmSedgwick County 67 kmNoble County 79 kmKingman County 87 kmGarfield County 88 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
6:25 pm CST on 17 February 2019 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) south of Wellington, KS · earthquakes near Wellington
Magnitude
M 2.2 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Sumner County, 21 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2751 days ago

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 32 km (20 mi) from the epicentre. In Wellington, 20 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: Wellington 20 km, intensity II · Caldwell 24 km, intensity II · Blackwell 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 60 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 60 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 4.1 on 2017-03-29 — about 710 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 37.0883, -97.3489. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Sumner County, KS 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Sumner County
Kay County, OK 35 km (22 mi) SSE earthquakes near Kay County
Cowley County, KS 48 km (30 mi) ENE earthquakes near Cowley County
Grant County, OK 51 km (32 mi) SW earthquakes near Grant County
Harper County, KS 65 km (40 mi) W earthquakes near Harper County
Sedgwick County, KS 67 km (41 mi) N earthquakes near Sedgwick County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.4 8 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  2. 2.1 7 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  3. 1.8 9 km NE of Caldwell, Kansas
  4. 2.7 6 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  5. 2.5 8 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  6. 2.7 8 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  7. 2.5 8 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  8. 2.3 7 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  9. 2.8 8 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  10. 2.3 6 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma
  11. 1.9 Kansas
  12. 1.9 2 km SSE of Bluff City, Kansas
  13. 1.8 3 km ENE of Freeport, Kansas
  14. 1.6 3 km ENE of Freeport, Kansas
  15. 2.3 9 km SSE of Milan, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.