Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Pawnee, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Pawnee in the 24 hours to 5:11 am CST (11:11 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 138 km (86 mi) SW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pawnee
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) northwest of Pawnee, OK, at 9:51 pm CDT on 12 March 2020 (02:51 UTC), 5.9 km deep.
USGS: 11 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
36 km (22 mi) NNE of Stillwater, OK · 119 km (74 mi) NNE of Oklahoma City, OK
- When
- 9:51 pm CDT on 12 March 2020 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) northwest of Pawnee, OK · earthquakes near Pawnee
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Pawnee County, 20 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2434 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Pawnee, OK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Pawnee, OK. 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 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Pawnee, 11 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: Fairfax.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 5.8 on 2016-09-03 — about 1,600,000 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 36.4135, -96.8853. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pawnee County, OK | 20 km (13 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Pawnee County |
| Noble County, OK | 32 km (20 mi) | W | earthquakes near Noble County |
| Payne County, OK | 38 km (24 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Payne County |
| Osage County, OK | 49 km (30 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Osage County |
| Kay County, OK | 50 km (31 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kay County |
| Creek County, OK | 72 km (45 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Creek County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 9 km NW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 1.7 9 km NW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 2.0 8 km E of Orlando, Oklahoma
- 1.6 1 km NNE of Perry, Oklahoma
- 2.1 8 km E of Orlando, Oklahoma
- 2.2 14 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.7 9 km NW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 2.2 11 km NE of Morrison, Oklahoma
- 2.2 10 km NW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 1.6 9 km NW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 1.6 9 km NW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 1.9 9 km NW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 1.5 11 km NW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 2.0 10 km NW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 1.7 9 km NW of Perry, 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.