Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Helena, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Helena in the 24 hours to 6:27 am CST (12:27 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 106 km (66 mi) S, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Helena
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Helena, OK, at 8:30 am CST on 13 February 2020 (14:30 UTC), 7.5 km deep.
USGS: 5 km E of Carmen, Oklahoma
51 km (32 mi) WNW of Enid, OK · 147 km (91 mi) NNW of Oklahoma City, OK
- When
- 8:30 am CST on 13 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Helena, OK · earthquakes near Helena
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alfalfa County, 18 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2463 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Helena, OK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Helena, 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Helena, 12 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Cherokee.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 5.1 on 2016-02-13 — about 130,000 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 36.5782, -98.4023. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfalfa County, OK | 18 km (11 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Alfalfa County |
| Major County, OK | 32 km (20 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Major County |
| Woods County, OK | 44 km (28 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Woods County |
| Garfield County, OK | 59 km (37 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Garfield County |
| Grant County, OK | 60 km (37 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Harper County, KS | 74 km (46 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Harper County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 7 km S of Meno, Oklahoma
- 2.2 5 km N of Ames, Oklahoma
- 1.5 3 km SE of Meno, Oklahoma
- 1.6 9 km W of Fairview, Oklahoma
- 2.3 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.2 3 km SE of Meno, Oklahoma
- 1.9 7 km E of Nescatunga, Oklahoma
- 1.9 7 km E of Nescatunga, Oklahoma
- 1.9 15 km WNW of Alva, Oklahoma
- 2.3 3 km NNE of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 1.5 3 km NNE of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 2.1 3 km NNE of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 2.1 3 km NNE of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 1.7 11 km WNW of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 2.0 4 km NE of Meno, 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.