Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1ml
Earthquake near Watonga, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Watonga in the 24 hours to 4:01 pm CST (22:01 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 42 km (26 mi) SE, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Watonga
This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Watonga, OK, at 6:38 pm CDT on 21 September 2019 (23:38 UTC), 5.3 km deep.
USGS: 12 km WNW of Watonga, Oklahoma
- When
- 6:38 pm CDT on 21 September 2019 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Watonga, OK · earthquakes near Watonga
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Blaine County, 10 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2575 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Watonga, OK
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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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 118 km (73 mi) from the epicentre. In Watonga, 12 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Watonga 12 km, intensity III · Thomas 26 km, intensity III · Okeene 31 km, intensity III · Fairview 42 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 260,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,200× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 2016-01-18 — about 33 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 35.8970, -98.5318. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blaine County, OK | 10 km (6 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Blaine County |
| Dewey County, OK | 44 km (28 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Dewey County |
| Major County, OK | 46 km (29 mi) | N | earthquakes near Major County |
| Custer County, OK | 50 km (31 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Custer County |
| Kingfisher County, OK | 54 km (34 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kingfisher County |
| Canadian County, OK | 63 km (39 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Canadian County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
38 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 16 km ENE of Chester, Oklahoma
- 2.1 12 km WNW of Watonga, Oklahoma
- 1.8 7 km WSW of Thomas, Oklahoma
- 1.7 15 km WSW of Kingfisher, Oklahoma
- 1.6 15 km WNW of Longdale, Oklahoma
- 2.4 14 km WSW of Kingfisher, Oklahoma
- 2.0 11 km SSW of Loyal, Oklahoma
- 2.1 14 km W of Kingfisher, Oklahoma
- 2.1 14 km WSW of Kingfisher, Oklahoma
- 1.5 2 km NNE of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 1.8 7 km NNE of Custer City, Oklahoma
- 1.5 11 km ENE of Greenfield, Oklahoma
- 2.0 12 km NE of Greenfield, Oklahoma
- 2.1 11 km NE of Greenfield, Oklahoma
- 1.6 6 km NNE of Loyal, Oklahoma
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.