QuakeIndex

quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.3ml

Earthquake near Pawhuska, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Pawhuska in the 24 hours to 8:39 am CST (14:39 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 193 km (120 mi) SW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pawhuska

No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.3 quarry blast was recorded 7 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Pawhuska, OK, at 1:35 pm CDT on 29 October 2026 (18:35 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 6 km WSW of Pawhuska, Oklahoma

73 km (46 mi) NW of Tulsa, OK

1:35 pm CDT, Oct 29, 2026 · · 0.0 km deep · released about 3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Osage County 2 kmPawnee County 45 kmWashington County 45 kmChautauqua County 58 kmKay County 68 kmTulsa County 72 kmNowata County 73 kmCowley County 76 kmRogers County 78 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
1:35 pm CDT on 29 October 2026 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Pawhuska, OK · earthquakes near Pawhuska
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.3 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Osage County, 2 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 12 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Barnsdall, Hominy, Fairfax.

USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 320× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.3 about 3 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 4.4 on 2016-11-02 — about 40,000 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 36.6467, -96.4082. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Osage County, OK 2 km (2 mi) S earthquakes near Osage County
Pawnee County, OK 45 km (28 mi) SW earthquakes near Pawnee County
Washington County, OK 45 km (28 mi) E earthquakes near Washington County
Chautauqua County, KS 58 km (36 mi) NNE earthquakes near Chautauqua County
Kay County, OK 68 km (42 mi) WNW earthquakes near Kay County
Tulsa County, OK 72 km (45 mi) SE earthquakes near Tulsa County

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

Aftershocks so far

No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

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.