Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9ml
Earthquake near Pawnee, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Pawnee in the 24 hours to 5:45 pm CST (23:45 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 138 km (86 mi) SW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pawnee
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Pawnee, OK, at 4:29 pm CDT on 16 March 2016 (21:29 UTC), 5.9 km deep.
USGS: 4 km SSW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
29 km (18 mi) NE of Stillwater, OK · 111 km (69 mi) NE of Oklahoma City, OK
- When
- 4:29 pm CDT on 16 March 2016 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Pawnee, OK · earthquakes near Pawnee
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Pawnee County, 11 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3827 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Pawnee, OK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Pawnee, OK. No account or email needed.
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 67 km (42 mi) from the epicentre. In Pawnee, 5 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 5 km, intensity III · Yale 23 km, intensity III · Stillwater 29 km, intensity III · Cushing 35 km, intensity III · Perkins 41 km, intensity II · Perry 42 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 680 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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
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 36.2958, -96.8189. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pawnee County, OK | 11 km (7 mi) | E | earthquakes near Pawnee County |
| Payne County, OK | 28 km (17 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Payne County |
| Noble County, OK | 39 km (24 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Noble County |
| Osage County, OK | 52 km (32 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Osage County |
| Creek County, OK | 58 km (36 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Creek County |
| Kay County, OK | 65 km (40 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kay County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 2 km NNW of Maramec, Oklahoma
- 1.7 5 km SSW of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 2.7 7 km ESE of Orlando, Oklahoma
- 3.1 12 km NNW of Perry, Oklahoma
- 2.5 Oklahoma
- 3.1 4 km SSW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.7 3 km NE of Coyle, Oklahoma
- 2.6 5 km S of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 2.9 4 km NNE of Coyle, Oklahoma
- 2.2 1 km N of Stillwater, Oklahoma
- 2.7 2 km NNW of Maramec, Oklahoma
- 2.5 4 km ESE of Red Rock, Oklahoma
- 2.6 8 km SW of Yale, Oklahoma
- 3.0 8 km NE of Orlando, Oklahoma
- 2.6 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.