QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7ml

Earthquake near Watonga, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Watonga in the 24 hours to 3:51 pm CST (21:51 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 42 km (26 mi) SE, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Watonga

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) east-northeast of Watonga, OK, at 10:41 pm CST on 8 March 2017 (04:41 UTC), 6.5 km deep.

USGS: 8 km SE of Hitchcock, Oklahoma

86 km (53 mi) NW of Oklahoma City, OK

10:41 pm CST, Mar 8, 2017 · · 6.5 km deep · released about 340 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Watonga Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Blaine County 12 kmKingfisher County 33 kmCanadian County 49 kmMajor County 51 kmDewey County 65 kmCuster County 70 kmGarfield County 70 kmLogan County 76 kmCaddo County 82 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
10:41 pm CST on 8 March 2017 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) east-northeast of Watonga, OK · earthquakes near Watonga
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.7 (ml)
Depth
6.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Blaine County, 12 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3452 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 56 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Watonga, 13 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: Watonga 13 km, intensity III · Okeene 24 km, intensity III · Kingfisher 33 km, intensity II · Okarche 35 km, intensity II · Hennessey 42 km, intensity II · Fairview 44 km, intensity II · Thomas 45 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 340 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 340 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 4.1 on 2016-01-18 — about 130 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 35.9030, -98.2940. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Blaine County, OK 12 km (8 mi) WSW earthquakes near Blaine County
Kingfisher County, OK 33 km (20 mi) E earthquakes near Kingfisher County
Canadian County, OK 49 km (30 mi) SE earthquakes near Canadian County
Major County, OK 51 km (32 mi) NNW earthquakes near Major County
Dewey County, OK 65 km (41 mi) W earthquakes near Dewey County
Custer County, OK 70 km (43 mi) WSW earthquakes near Custer County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 5 km N of Dover, Oklahoma
  2. 3.0 6 km N of Ames, Oklahoma
  3. 2.5 6 km N of Ames, Oklahoma
  4. 2.4 12 km ESE of Dover, Oklahoma
  5. 2.6 7 km WNW of Ames, Oklahoma
  6. 2.6 6 km ENE of Hennessey, Oklahoma
  7. 2.7 6 km E of Hennessey, Oklahoma
  8. 3.5 15 km WSW of Watonga, Oklahoma
  9. 2.8 16 km WSW of Watonga, Oklahoma
  10. 2.3 6 km E of Hennessey, Oklahoma
  11. 2.8 14 km WSW of Watonga, Oklahoma
  12. 2.8 15 km ENE of Thomas, Oklahoma
  13. 2.5 15 km WSW of Watonga, Oklahoma
  14. 3.3 7 km ENE of Hennessey, Oklahoma
  15. 2.6 12 km ESE of Dover, 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.