QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near Oklahoma City, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Oklahoma City in the 24 hours to 5:30 pm CST (23:30 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 50 km (31 mi) WNW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oklahoma City

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) east of Oklahoma City, OK, at 5:41 am CST on 26 February 2016 (11:41 UTC), 7.1 km deep.

USGS: 5 km NNE of Dale, Oklahoma

46 km (28 mi) E of Oklahoma City, OK · 33 km (21 mi) E of Midwest City, OK

5:41 am CST, Feb 26, 2016 · · 7.1 km deep · released about 240 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pottawatomie County 25 kmLincoln County 32 kmCleveland County 38 kmOklahoma County 38 kmSeminole County 48 kmMcClain County 61 kmOkfuskee County 62 kmLogan County 66 kmPayne County 72 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
5:41 am CST on 26 February 2016 ()
Where
46 km (29 mi) east of Oklahoma City, OK · earthquakes near Oklahoma City
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
7.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pottawatomie County, 25 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3841 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 51 km (32 mi) from the epicentre. In Oklahoma City, 46 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: Shawnee 14 km, intensity III · Choctaw 24 km, intensity II · Prague 30 km, intensity II · Luther 30 km, intensity II · Chandler 32 km, intensity II · Midwest City 35 km, intensity II · Moore 44 km, intensity II · Norman 46 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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 4.2 on 2016-01-01 — about 250 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma · 25 km ENE of this epicentre

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 35.4357, -97.0111. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pottawatomie County, OK 25 km (16 mi) S earthquakes near Pottawatomie County
Lincoln County, OK 32 km (20 mi) NNE earthquakes near Lincoln County
Cleveland County, OK 38 km (24 mi) SW earthquakes near Cleveland County
Oklahoma County, OK 38 km (24 mi) WNW earthquakes near Oklahoma County
Seminole County, OK 48 km (30 mi) SE earthquakes near Seminole County
McClain County, OK 61 km (38 mi) SW earthquakes near McClain County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.6 7 km ENE of Harrah, Oklahoma
  2. 2.5 7 km ENE of Harrah, Oklahoma
  3. 2.8 7 km ENE of Harrah, Oklahoma
  4. 2.5 2 km E of Luther, Oklahoma
  5. 3.0 7 km W of Cromwell, Oklahoma
  6. 2.5 10 km NNW of Arcadia, Oklahoma
  7. 1.9 7 km ENE of Edmond, Oklahoma
  8. 2.6 8 km NNW of Arcadia, Oklahoma
  9. 2.6 1 km E of Luther, Oklahoma
  10. 2.6 2 km NE of Luther, Oklahoma
  11. 2.6 2 km SW of Jones, Oklahoma
  12. 3.1 7 km N of Spencer, Oklahoma
  13. 2.0 2 km E of Luther, Oklahoma
  14. 2.8 1 km ESE of Luther, Oklahoma
  15. 2.8 3 km E of Luther, 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.