quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Stillwater, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Stillwater in the 24 hours to 2:25 pm CST (20:25 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 105 km (65 mi) WSW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Stillwater
No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.8 quarry blast was recorded 47 km (29 mi) northeast of Stillwater, OK, at 10:51 am CST on 14 December 2021 (16:51 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 3 km NNE of Skedee, Oklahoma
46 km (29 mi) NE of Stillwater, OK · 128 km (80 mi) NE of Oklahoma City, OK
- When
- 10:51 am CST on 14 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) northeast of Stillwater, OK · earthquakes near Stillwater
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Pawnee County, 11 km S
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1792 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Stillwater, 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 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Stillwater, 47 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: Pawnee 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 1,100,000 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 36.4087, -96.6865. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pawnee County, OK | 11 km (7 mi) | S | earthquakes near Pawnee County |
| Osage County, OK | 35 km (21 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Osage County |
| Payne County, OK | 45 km (28 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Payne County |
| Noble County, OK | 49 km (31 mi) | W | earthquakes near Noble County |
| Kay County, OK | 61 km (38 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kay County |
| Creek County, OK | 62 km (39 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Creek County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 2 km N of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 1.6 11 km E of Red Rock, Oklahoma
- 1.7 12 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 1.6 11 km E of Red Rock, Oklahoma
- 1.7 6 km NNW of Marland, Oklahoma
- 2.5 6 km NNW of Marland, Oklahoma
- 1.6 11 km E of Red Rock, Oklahoma
- 1.9 Oklahoma
- 1.5 7 km ENE of Drumright, Oklahoma
- 1.9 Oklahoma
- 2.8 10 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.7 10 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 1.7 3 km WNW of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 1.6 7 km ENE of Drumright, Oklahoma
- 1.9 8 km ENE of Drumright, 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.