Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.8mwr
Earthquake near Stillwater, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Stillwater in the 24 hours to 9:40 pm CST (03:40 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 105 km (65 mi) WSW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Stillwater
This page: a magnitude 3.8 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) east-northeast of Stillwater, OK, at 9:22 pm CST on 4 December 2016 (03:22 UTC), 3.5 km deep. 135 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 7 km NNE of Maramec, Oklahoma
42 km (26 mi) ENE of Stillwater, OK · 121 km (75 mi) NE of Oklahoma City, OK
- When
- 9:22 pm CST on 4 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 42 km (26 mi) east-northeast of Stillwater, OK · earthquakes near Stillwater
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 3.8 (mwr)
- Depth
- 3.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 135 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Nearest
- Pawnee County, 3 km WNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2428 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Stillwater, OK
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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 401 km (249 mi) from the epicentre. In Stillwater, 42 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: Pawnee 13 km, intensity IV · Yale 22 km, intensity IV · Cushing 37 km, intensity III · Stillwater 42 km, intensity III · Perkins 50 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 22,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.8 about 7.6 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 16× 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 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 36.3077, -96.6617. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pawnee County, OK | 3 km (2 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Pawnee County |
| Payne County, OK | 38 km (24 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Payne County |
| Osage County, OK | 42 km (26 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Osage County |
| Creek County, OK | 51 km (32 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Creek County |
| Noble County, OK | 52 km (32 mi) | W | earthquakes near Noble County |
| Tulsa County, OK | 68 km (42 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Tulsa 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.
- 2.6 14 km WSW of Ralston, Oklahoma
- 2.9 16 km NNE of Morrison, Oklahoma
- 2.5 3 km WNW of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 2.9 14 km NNW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.6 4 km SSE of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 3.0 13 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.7 2 km SW of Glencoe, Oklahoma
- 2.6 3 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 2.8 12 km SSE of Glencoe, Oklahoma
- 3.3 12 km SSE of Glencoe, Oklahoma
- 2.5 12 km NNE of Ripley, Oklahoma
- 2.6 5 km NNW of Maramec, Oklahoma
- 2.9 6 km N of Maramec, Oklahoma
- 3.1 6 km N of Maramec, Oklahoma
- 2.7 3 km WNW of Cushing, 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.