Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Cherokee, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Cherokee in the 24 hours to 5:10 am CST (11:10 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 130 km (81 mi) SSE, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cherokee
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Cherokee, OK, at 10:35 pm CDT on 15 March 2020 (03:35 UTC), 5.9 km deep.
USGS: 9 km ENE of Cherokee, Oklahoma
55 km (34 mi) NW of Enid, OK · 129 km (80 mi) SW of Wichita, KS
- When
- 10:35 pm CDT on 15 March 2020 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) east-northeast of Cherokee, OK · earthquakes near Cherokee
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alfalfa County, 9 km SW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2431 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cherokee, OK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cherokee, 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 Cherokee, 9 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.
Likely felt in: Cherokee 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.6 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 1,600,000× 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 99× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 4.4 on 2018-06-09 — about 12,000 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 36.7862, -98.2588. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfalfa County, OK | 9 km (5 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Alfalfa County |
| Grant County, OK | 42 km (26 mi) | E | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Harper County, KS | 48 km (30 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Harper County |
| Woods County, OK | 54 km (34 mi) | W | earthquakes near Woods County |
| Major County, OK | 58 km (36 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Major County |
| Barber County, KS | 62 km (38 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Barber County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
34 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 2 km SSW of Cherokee, Oklahoma
- 1.6 3 km SE of Meno, Oklahoma
- 1.6 4 km SSW of Goltry, Oklahoma
- 1.8 3 km SSE of Meno, Oklahoma
- 1.7 4 km SSW of Goltry, Oklahoma
- 2.1 4 km NE of Dacoma, Oklahoma
- 2.9 3 km SE of Meno, Oklahoma
- 1.8 4 km SE of Meno, Oklahoma
- 3.9 2 km SE of Meno, Oklahoma
- 1.6 4 km SSW of Goltry, Oklahoma
- 2.3 7 km E of Nescatunga, Oklahoma
- 1.8 9 km NW of Dacoma, Oklahoma
- 1.9 Oklahoma
- 1.7 7 km NNW of Medford, Oklahoma
- 2.2 3 km SE 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.