QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Ponca City, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponca City in the 24 hours to 10:12 am CST (16:12 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) south-southwest of Ponca City, OK, at 12:44 am CDT on 11 September 2016 (05:44 UTC), 4.8 km deep.

USGS: 1 km NNE of Red Rock, Oklahoma

39 km (24 mi) NNW of Stillwater, OK · 116 km (72 mi) NNE of Oklahoma City, OK

12:44 am CDT, Sep 11, 2016 · · 4.8 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Noble County 11 kmKay County 38 kmPawnee County 46 kmPayne County 47 kmGarfield County 56 kmGrant County 65 kmLogan County 67 kmOsage County 70 kmLincoln County 89 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
12:44 am CDT on 11 September 2016 ()
Where
27 km (17 mi) south-southwest of Ponca City, OK · earthquakes near Ponca City
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Noble County, 11 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3627 days ago

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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Ponca City, 27 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: Perry, McCord, Tonkawa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 5.8 on 2016-09-03 — about 710,000 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 36.4698, -97.1723. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Noble County, OK 11 km (7 mi) SSW earthquakes near Noble County
Kay County, OK 38 km (24 mi) N earthquakes near Kay County
Pawnee County, OK 46 km (29 mi) ESE earthquakes near Pawnee County
Payne County, OK 47 km (29 mi) SSE earthquakes near Payne County
Garfield County, OK 56 km (35 mi) W earthquakes near Garfield County
Grant County, OK 65 km (41 mi) WNW earthquakes near Grant County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 5 km WNW of Lucien, Oklahoma
  2. 1.7 13 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  3. 2.3 Oklahoma
  4. 2.7 5 km N of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  5. 1.6 5 km N of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  6. 3.2 Oklahoma
  7. 1.7 9 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  8. 2.4 7 km SW of Glencoe, Oklahoma
  9. 1.7 10 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  10. 1.5 Oklahoma
  11. 1.8 14 km NNE of Morrison, Oklahoma
  12. 1.6 14 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  13. 1.8 14 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  14. 1.9 14 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  15. 1.5 10 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.