Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6ml
Earthquake near Pawnee, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Pawnee in the 24 hours to 3:49 pm CST (21:49 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 138 km (86 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 Pawnee
This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) northwest of Pawnee, OK, at 7:58 am CDT on 3 September 2016 (12:58 UTC), 6.2 km deep. 25 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 13 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
36 km (22 mi) NNE of Stillwater, OK · 119 km (74 mi) NNE of Oklahoma City, OK
- When
- 7:58 am CDT on 3 September 2016 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) northwest of Pawnee, OK · earthquakes near Pawnee
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- 25 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Pawnee County, 23 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2428 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Pawnee, OK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Pawnee, 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 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 338 km (210 mi) from the epicentre. In Pawnee, 13 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Pawnee 13 km, intensity IV · Ponca City 35 km, intensity III · Stillwater 37 km, intensity III · Perry 37 km, intensity III · Yale 39 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.8 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 7.9× 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 5.8 on 2016-09-03 — about 2,000 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 36.4233, -96.9093. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pawnee County, OK | 23 km (14 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Pawnee County |
| Noble County, OK | 30 km (18 mi) | W | earthquakes near Noble County |
| Payne County, OK | 39 km (24 mi) | S | earthquakes near Payne County |
| Kay County, OK | 48 km (30 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kay County |
| Osage County, OK | 50 km (31 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Osage County |
| Creek County, OK | 74 km (46 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Creek 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.
- 2.8 7 km W of Red Rock, Oklahoma
- 2.7 10 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.8 11 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 3.0 14 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 3.0 11 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.9 12 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 1.9 11 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.5 13 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 1.9 11 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.5 8 km W of Red Rock, Oklahoma
- 2.0 4 km ENE of Morrison, Oklahoma
- 1.9 4 km ENE of Morrison, Oklahoma
- 2.5 5 km NNW of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 1.9 11 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.5 9 km NNW 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
- 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.