QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Elk City, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Elk City in the 24 hours to 9:34 am CST (15:34 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 125 km (78 mi) E, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Elk City

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 30 km (18 mi) south-southwest of Elk City, OK, at 1:20 am CDT on 31 October 2025 (06:20 UTC), 5.1 km deep.

USGS: 6 km S of Carter, Oklahoma

1:20 am CDT, Oct 31, 2025 · · 5.1 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Beckham County 21 kmGreer County 25 kmWashita County 49 kmKiowa County 54 kmHarmon County 55 kmJackson County 63 kmRoger Mills County 65 kmCuster County 71 kmWheeler County 73 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
1:20 am CDT on 31 October 2025 ()
Where
30 km (18 mi) south-southwest of Elk City, OK · earthquakes near Elk City
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
5.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Beckham County, 21 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 378 days ago

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 Elk City, 30 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: Sayre, Granite.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. 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

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 35.1583, -99.5055. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Beckham County, OK 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Beckham County
Greer County, OK 25 km (16 mi) S earthquakes near Greer County
Washita County, OK 49 km (30 mi) ENE earthquakes near Washita County
Kiowa County, OK 54 km (34 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kiowa County
Harmon County, OK 55 km (34 mi) SW earthquakes near Harmon County
Jackson County, OK 63 km (39 mi) S earthquakes near Jackson County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

2 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.8 9 km NNE of Friendship, Oklahoma
  2. 1.5 16 km SSW of Sayre, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.