QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1mwr

Earthquake near Fairview, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Fairview in the 24 hours to 6:27 am CST (12:27 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 83 km (52 mi) SSE, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fairview

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east of Fairview, OK, at 1:08 pm CDT on 29 September 2016 (18:08 UTC), 5.8 km deep. 10 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 6 km E of Fairview, Oklahoma

50 km (31 mi) WSW of Enid, OK · 121 km (75 mi) NW of Oklahoma City, OK

1:08 pm CDT, Sep 29, 2016 · · 5.8 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Major County 13 kmBlaine County 45 kmAlfalfa County 51 kmKingfisher County 56 kmGarfield County 56 kmDewey County 64 kmWoods County 65 kmGrant County 79 kmWoodward County 79 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
1:08 pm CDT on 29 September 2016 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) east of Fairview, OK · earthquakes near Fairview
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.1 (mwr)
Depth
5.8 km below the surface
Felt
10 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Major County, 13 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3619 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 Fairview, 7 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: Fairview 7 km, intensity III · Okeene 20 km, intensity III · Helena 32 km, intensity III · Watonga 48 km, intensity II · Enid 49 km, intensity II · Hennessey 49 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 5.1 on 2016-02-13 — about 1,000 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 36.2779, -98.4064. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Major County, OK 13 km (8 mi) WNW earthquakes near Major County
Blaine County, OK 45 km (28 mi) S earthquakes near Blaine County
Alfalfa County, OK 51 km (32 mi) N earthquakes near Alfalfa County
Kingfisher County, OK 56 km (35 mi) SE earthquakes near Kingfisher County
Garfield County, OK 56 km (35 mi) ENE earthquakes near Garfield County
Dewey County, OK 64 km (40 mi) WSW earthquakes near Dewey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 16 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  2. 3.0 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  3. 2.6 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  4. 3.0 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  5. 2.8 2 km WNW of Chester, Oklahoma
  6. 2.9 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  7. 2.9 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  8. 2.5 2 km WNW of Chester, Oklahoma
  9. 2.6 1 km NW of Chester, Oklahoma
  10. 2.5 4 km NNE of Lambert, Oklahoma
  11. 2.5 16 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  12. 3.0 16 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  13. 3.1 16 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  14. 2.5 8 km SW of Helena, Oklahoma
  15. 2.7 6 km W of Carmen, 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.