QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Ponca City, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponca City in the 24 hours to 7:34 am CST (13:34 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 149 km (93 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 Ponca City

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) south-southwest of Ponca City, OK, at 12:48 pm CDT on 16 August 2016 (17:48 UTC), 6.3 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 6 km NNW of Red Rock, Oklahoma

44 km (28 mi) NNW of Stillwater, OK · 119 km (74 mi) NNE of Oklahoma City, OK

12:48 pm CDT, Aug 16, 2016 · · 6.3 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponca City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Noble County 14 kmKay County 34 kmPawnee County 51 kmPayne County 53 kmGarfield County 54 kmGrant County 60 kmLogan County 70 kmOsage County 73 kmSumner County 84 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
12:48 pm CDT on 16 August 2016 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) south-southwest of Ponca City, OK · earthquakes near Ponca City
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Noble County, 14 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3648 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 128 km (80 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponca City, 24 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Ponca City 24 km, intensity III · Perry 26 km, intensity III · Blackwell 33 km, intensity III · Pawnee 42 km, intensity III · Stillwater 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 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× more

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 2016-07-17 — about 45 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 36.5139, -97.2135. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Noble County, OK 14 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Noble County
Kay County, OK 34 km (21 mi) N earthquakes near Kay County
Pawnee County, OK 51 km (32 mi) ESE earthquakes near Pawnee County
Payne County, OK 53 km (33 mi) SSE earthquakes near Payne County
Garfield County, OK 54 km (33 mi) WSW earthquakes near Garfield County
Grant County, OK 60 km (37 mi) WNW earthquakes near Grant 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. 2.5 8 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  2. 2.1 9 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  3. 2.6 14 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  4. 1.7 5 km N of Glencoe, Oklahoma
  5. 2.1 14 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  6. 1.9 14 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  7. 1.8 12 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  8. 2.9 15 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  9. 1.7 5 km N of Glencoe, Oklahoma
  10. 3.4 11 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  11. 2.9 9 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  12. 2.1 Oklahoma
  13. 2.6 9 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  14. 3.3 9 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  15. 2.6 13 km NW of Pawnee, 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.