Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Watonga, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Watonga in the 24 hours to 4:56 pm CST (22:56 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 42 km (26 mi) SE, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Watonga
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) northeast of Watonga, OK, at 4:22 am CST on 18 January 2026 (10:22 UTC), 6.6 km deep.
USGS: 10 km W of Loyal, Oklahoma
86 km (53 mi) NW of Oklahoma City, OK · 59 km (36 mi) SW of Enid, OK
- When
- 4:22 am CST on 18 January 2026 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) northeast of Watonga, OK · earthquakes near Watonga
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Blaine County, 20 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 294 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Watonga, OK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Watonga, 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 Watonga, 21 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: Okeene, Kingfisher.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× 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 9 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 4.1 on 2016-01-18 — about 4,700 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 35.9695, -98.2337. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blaine County, OK | 20 km (13 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Blaine County |
| Kingfisher County, OK | 27 km (17 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kingfisher County |
| Major County, OK | 47 km (29 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Major County |
| Canadian County, OK | 53 km (33 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Canadian County |
| Garfield County, OK | 60 km (38 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Garfield County |
| Dewey County, OK | 70 km (44 mi) | W | earthquakes near Dewey County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.1 8 km ENE of Calumet, Oklahoma
- 1.8 2 km SSW of Watonga, Oklahoma
- 1.6 7 km ENE of Calumet, Oklahoma
- 1.7 1 km S of Watonga, Oklahoma
- 2.4 7 km ENE of Calumet, Oklahoma
- 2.1 7 km ENE of Calumet, Oklahoma
- 1.7 7 km ENE of Calumet, Oklahoma
- 1.6 1 km SSE of Watonga, Oklahoma
- 3.1 5 km E of Calumet, Oklahoma
- 1.6 3 km SSW of Watonga, Oklahoma
- 1.9 8 km ENE of Calumet, Oklahoma
- 1.6 1 km S of Watonga, Oklahoma
- 2.4 8 km ENE of Calumet, Oklahoma
- 1.8 8 km ENE of Calumet, Oklahoma
- 1.6 8 km ENE of Calumet, 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.