QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5ml

Earthquake near Stillwater, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Stillwater in the 24 hours to 6:28 am CST (12:28 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 3.5 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) northeast of Stillwater, OK, at 2:56 am CST on 31 January 2016 (08:56 UTC), 7.0 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1 km NW of Skedee, Oklahoma

43 km (27 mi) NE of Stillwater, OK · 125 km (78 mi) NE of Oklahoma City, OK

2:56 am CST, Jan 31, 2016 · · 7.0 km deep · released about 2.7 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pawnee County 8 kmOsage County 38 kmPayne County 41 kmNoble County 47 kmKay County 61 kmCreek County 61 kmTulsa County 76 kmLincoln County 78 kmWashington 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
2:56 am CST on 31 January 2016 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) northeast of Stillwater, OK · earthquakes near Stillwater
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.5 (ml)
Depth
7.0 km below the surface
Felt
5 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Pawnee County, 8 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3863 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 306 km (190 mi) from the epicentre. In Stillwater, 43 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 10 km, intensity IV · Yale 30 km, intensity III · Stillwater 43 km, intensity III · Cushing 45 km, intensity III · Ponca City 48 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.7 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.6× 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

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 36.3879, -96.7162. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pawnee County, OK 8 km (5 mi) SSE earthquakes near Pawnee County
Osage County, OK 38 km (24 mi) NE earthquakes near Osage County
Payne County, OK 41 km (26 mi) SW earthquakes near Payne County
Noble County, OK 47 km (29 mi) W earthquakes near Noble County
Kay County, OK 61 km (38 mi) NW earthquakes near Kay County
Creek County, OK 61 km (38 mi) SSE earthquakes near Creek County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 10 km ENE of Perry, Oklahoma
  2. 2.9 5 km W of Morrison, Oklahoma
  3. 3.0 5 km W of Morrison, Oklahoma
  4. 2.3 5 km SSE of Cushing, Oklahoma
  5. 2.9 2 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  6. 2.9 2 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  7. 2.9 2 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  8. 3.0 7 km NNE of Perkins, Oklahoma
  9. 2.8 5 km NNW of Glencoe, Oklahoma
  10. 2.7 5 km SE of Cushing, Oklahoma
  11. 2.8 5 km SE of Stillwater, Oklahoma
  12. 2.5 11 km E of Perry, Oklahoma
  13. 2.1 0 km NNW of Stillwater, Oklahoma
  14. 2.6 0 km NNE of Cushing, Oklahoma
  15. 3.3 7 km WNW of Quay, 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.