Earthquake near Ponca City, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Ponca City in the 24 hours to 1:51 am CST (07:51 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 149 km (93 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 Ponca City

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) west-northwest of Ponca City, OK, at 2:45 am CST on 9 November 2017 (08:45 UTC), 5.9 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 10 km N of Deer Creek, Oklahoma

89 km (55 mi) S of Wichita, KS

2:45 am CST, Nov 9, 2017 · 2017-11-09 08:45 UTC · 5.9 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ponca City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 2:45 am CST on 9 November 2017 (2017-11-09 08:45 UTC)
Where: 44 km (27 mi) west-northwest of Ponca City, OK · earthquakes near Ponca City
Oklahoma today: every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude: M 3.2 (ml)
Depth: 5.9 km below the surface
Felt: 3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest: Grant County, 27 km WSW
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3207 days ago · we first saw it 3207 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. In Ponca City, 44 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: Caldwell 17 km, intensity III · Blackwell 23 km, intensity III · Wellington 43 km, intensity III · Ponca City 44 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.

Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
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 4.3 on 2017-09-08 — about 45 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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Grant County, OK	27 km (17 mi)	WSW	earthquakes near Grant County
Kay County, OK	34 km (21 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Kay County
Sumner County, KS	38 km (23 mi)	N	earthquakes near Sumner County
Harper County, KS	58 km (36 mi)	WNW	earthquakes near Harper County
Noble County, OK	62 km (39 mi)	SSE	earthquakes near Noble County
Garfield County, OK	63 km (39 mi)	SSW	earthquakes near Garfield 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.

1.8 2 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas 07:03 UTC
2.3 2 km SSE of Freeport, Kansas 00:59 UTC
3.1 7 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma 08:41 UTC
2.8 7 km N of Nardin, Oklahoma 07:55 UTC
2.5 0 km W of Wakita, Oklahoma 07:25 UTC
1.7 5 km SSW of Bluff City, Kansas 11:57 UTC
2.6 4 km E of Freeport, Kansas 05:52 UTC
1.6 8 km WSW of Hunnewell, Kansas 20:45 UTC
2.4 1 km S of Renfrow, Oklahoma 13:39 UTC
2.2 3 km E of Freeport, Kansas 04:00 UTC
1.5 9 km W of Bluff City, Kansas 13:03 UTC
2.8 1 km S of Renfrow, Oklahoma 07:30 UTC
1.5 7 km ENE of Renfrow, Oklahoma 17:13 UTC
1.6 8 km WSW of Hunnewell, Kansas 11:19 UTC
2.0 10 km N of Caldwell, Kansas 10:27 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 07:51 UTC. 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.