QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

14 km NW of Pawnee, OK

Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 14 km NW of Pawnee, OK, 35 km (22 mi) NNE of Stillwater, OK, at 9:24 pm CDT on 22 September 2016 (02:24 UTC), 5.5 km deep.

35 km (22 mi) NNE of Stillwater, OK · 119 km (74 mi) NNE of Oklahoma City, OK

· 5.5 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pawnee County 23 kmNoble County 28 kmPayne County 38 kmKay County 48 kmOsage County 51 kmLogan County 74 kmCreek County 75 kmGarfield County 78 kmLincoln County 80 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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
5.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pawnee County, 23 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3620 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: Pawnee, Fairfax.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 in our catalogue was M 5.8 on 2016-09-03 — about 2,800,000 times the energy of this one.

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 36.4211, -96.9225. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pawnee County, OK 23 km (15 mi) ESE earthquakes near Pawnee County
Noble County, OK 28 km (18 mi) W earthquakes near Noble County
Payne County, OK 38 km (24 mi) S earthquakes near Payne County
Kay County, OK 48 km (30 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kay County
Osage County, OK 51 km (32 mi) ENE earthquakes near Osage County
Logan County, OK 74 km (46 mi) SW earthquakes near Logan 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. 2.1 11 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  2. 2.8 11 km NNE of Morrison, Oklahoma
  3. 1.8 14 km NNE of Morrison, Oklahoma
  4. 1.7 11 km NNE of Morrison, Oklahoma
  5. 1.7 12 km NNE of Morrison, Oklahoma
  6. 2.7 10 km NE of Ripley, Oklahoma
  7. 2.4 11 km NNE of Morrison, Oklahoma
  8. 2.3 13 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  9. 3.4 13 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  10. 2.4 8 km S of Perry, Oklahoma
  11. 1.9 14 km NNE of Morrison, Oklahoma
  12. 3.0 13 km NNE of Morrison, Oklahoma
  13. 2.6 4 km ENE of Morrison, Oklahoma
  14. 3.7 15 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
  15. 1.7 14 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.