QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2mwr

Oklahoma

Yes. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded in Oklahoma, 43 km (27 mi) NE of Oklahoma City, OK, at 4:21 pm CDT on 31 March 2016 (21:21 UTC), 4.1 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

43 km (27 mi) NE of Oklahoma City, OK · 24 km (15 mi) ENE of Edmond, OK

· 4.1 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lincoln County 24 kmOklahoma County 30 kmLogan County 35 kmPayne County 43 kmPottawatomie County 59 kmCleveland County 59 kmCreek County 72 kmNoble County 74 kmKingfisher County 75 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
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.2 (mwr)
Depth
4.1 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Lincoln County, 24 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2429 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 190 km (118 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Luther 8 km, intensity III · Chandler 24 km, intensity III · Langston 27 km, intensity III · Choctaw 27 km, intensity III · Perkins 30 km, intensity III · Guthrie 30 km, intensity III · Edmond 31 km, intensity III · Midwest City 37 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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 4.2 on 2016-01-01 — about 32 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma · 41 km ESE of this epicentre

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 35.7198, -97.1499. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lincoln County, OK 24 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Lincoln County
Oklahoma County, OK 30 km (19 mi) SW earthquakes near Oklahoma County
Logan County, OK 35 km (22 mi) NW earthquakes near Logan County
Payne County, OK 43 km (27 mi) NNE earthquakes near Payne County
Pottawatomie County, OK 59 km (37 mi) SSE earthquakes near Pottawatomie County
Cleveland County, OK 59 km (37 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cleveland County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.7 5 km W of Fallis, Oklahoma
  2. 2.9 7 km ENE of Harrah, Oklahoma
  3. 3.0 7 km ENE of Harrah, Oklahoma
  4. 2.8 7 km ENE of Harrah, Oklahoma
  5. 3.0 1 km E of Luther, Oklahoma
  6. 2.9 4 km WSW of Fallis, Oklahoma
  7. 3.6 4 km WSW of Fallis, Oklahoma
  8. 2.8 Oklahoma
  9. 3.6 7 km ENE of Harrah, Oklahoma
  10. 2.5 7 km ENE of Harrah, Oklahoma
  11. 2.8 7 km ENE of Harrah, Oklahoma
  12. 2.5 2 km E of Luther, Oklahoma
  13. 2.1 1 km NW of Stillwater, Oklahoma
  14. 2.5 10 km NNW of Arcadia, Oklahoma
  15. 2.6 5 km SSE 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.