quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Lawton, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Lawton in the 24 hours to 12:11 pm CST (18:11 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 116 km (72 mi) NNE, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lawton
No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.6 quarry blast was recorded 15 km (9 mi) north of Lawton, OK, at 2:30 pm CDT on 29 September 2021 (19:30 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 8 km E of Medicine Park, Oklahoma
14 km (9 mi) N of Lawton, OK · 115 km (71 mi) SW of Oklahoma City, OK
- When
- 2:30 pm CDT on 29 September 2021 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) north of Lawton, OK · earthquakes near Lawton
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Comanche County, 11 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Meers fault, 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1869 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Lawton, OK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Lawton, 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Lawton, 15 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: Elgin, Apache, Fletcher, Cache, Cyril, Geronimo.
USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
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 34.7402, -98.4078. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comanche County, OK | 11 km (7 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Comanche County |
| Caddo County, OK | 48 km (30 mi) | N | earthquakes near Caddo County |
| Cotton County, OK | 50 km (31 mi) | S | earthquakes near Cotton County |
| Kiowa County, OK | 56 km (35 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kiowa County |
| Grady County, OK | 57 km (35 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Grady County |
| Stephens County, OK | 58 km (36 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Stephens County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
17 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 3 km NNE of Cooperton, Oklahoma
- 1.5 6 km NW of Medicine Park, Oklahoma
- 1.6 4 km N of Cooperton, Oklahoma
- 1.6 6 km NE of Cooperton, Oklahoma
- 1.6 7 km NNE of Cooperton, Oklahoma
- 1.8 4 km NE of Medicine Park, Oklahoma
- 1.5 3 km NE of Medicine Park, Oklahoma
- 1.5 5 km E of Medicine Park, Oklahoma
- 2.1 6 km SW of Medicine Park, Oklahoma
- 1.6 6 km NNE of Cooperton, Oklahoma
- 1.5 Oklahoma
- 2.8 1 km ESE of Medicine Park, Oklahoma
- 1.6 8 km NE of Cooperton, Oklahoma
- 1.6 4 km ENE of Medicine Park, Oklahoma
- 1.8 9 km NNE of Cooperton, 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.