Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Hennessey, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Hennessey in the 24 hours to 2:22 pm CST (20:22 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 57 km (35 mi) SSW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hennessey
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Hennessey, OK, at 9:32 am CDT on 16 August 2020 (14:32 UTC), 5.2 km deep.
USGS: 3 km ENE of Hennessey, Oklahoma
79 km (49 mi) NNW of Oklahoma City, OK · 32 km (20 mi) S of Enid, OK
- When
- 9:32 am CDT on 16 August 2020 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Hennessey, OK · earthquakes near Hennessey
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kingfisher County, 20 km SSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2277 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hennessey, OK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Hennessey, 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Hennessey, 3 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: Hennessey 3 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 4.6 on 2018-04-09 — about 29,000 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 36.1180, -97.8627. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kingfisher County, OK | 20 km (12 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kingfisher County |
| Garfield County, OK | 30 km (18 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Garfield County |
| Logan County, OK | 43 km (27 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Logan County |
| Blaine County, OK | 58 km (36 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Blaine County |
| Noble County, OK | 64 km (39 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Noble County |
| Major County, OK | 65 km (40 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Major County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 6 km NW of Douglas, Oklahoma
- 1.7 13 km ESE of Dover, Oklahoma
- 2.5 5 km WNW of Lucien, Oklahoma
- 1.6 5 km WNW of Lucien, Oklahoma
- 2.0 3 km W of Lucien, Oklahoma
- 1.6 6 km NNE of Ames, Oklahoma
- 1.6 4 km NNE of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 2.9 13 km ESE of Dover, Oklahoma
- 2.4 6 km NW of Ames, Oklahoma
- 1.6 5 km NNW of Ames, Oklahoma
- 1.6 4 km WNW of Lucien, Oklahoma
- 1.5 2 km SW of Lucien, Oklahoma
- 1.6 5 km ESE of Covington, Oklahoma
- 1.7 5 km N of Ames, Oklahoma
- 1.5 5 km NE of Ames, 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.