QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Luther, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Luther in the 24 hours to 10:11 am CST (16:11 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 77 km (48 mi) W, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Luther

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) east-southeast of Luther, OK, at 11:58 pm CDT on 21 April 2021 (04:58 UTC), 7.3 km deep.

USGS: 6 km ESE of Luther, Oklahoma

40 km (25 mi) ENE of Oklahoma City, OK · 26 km (16 mi) E of Edmond, OK

11:58 pm CDT, Apr 21, 2021 · · 7.3 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lincoln County 23 kmOklahoma County 27 kmLogan County 42 kmPayne County 50 kmPottawatomie County 51 kmCleveland County 52 kmSeminole County 72 kmCreek County 74 kmOkfuskee 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
11:58 pm CDT on 21 April 2021 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) east-southeast of Luther, OK · earthquakes near Luther
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
7.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lincoln County, 23 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2029 days ago

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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Luther, 6 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: Luther 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 5.0 on 2016-11-07 — about 110,000 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 · 35 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 35.6450, -97.1285. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lincoln County, OK 23 km (14 mi) ENE earthquakes near Lincoln County
Oklahoma County, OK 27 km (17 mi) WSW earthquakes near Oklahoma County
Logan County, OK 42 km (26 mi) NW earthquakes near Logan County
Payne County, OK 50 km (31 mi) NNE earthquakes near Payne County
Pottawatomie County, OK 51 km (31 mi) SSE earthquakes near Pottawatomie County
Cleveland County, OK 52 km (32 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cleveland County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma
  2. 1.9 8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma
  3. 2.1 8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma
  4. 2.1 4 km NE of Coyle, Oklahoma
  5. 2.0 10 km WSW of Shamrock, Oklahoma
  6. 1.8 6 km W of Johnson, Oklahoma
  7. 1.8 7 km WSW of Shamrock, Oklahoma
  8. 1.6 8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma
  9. 1.9 5 km ESE of Meeker, Oklahoma
  10. 2.0 5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
  11. 2.2 10 km WSW of Shamrock, Oklahoma
  12. 1.9 8 km SSW of Warwick, Oklahoma
  13. 1.7 8 km SSW of Warwick, Oklahoma
  14. 2.8 8 km SSW of Warwick, Oklahoma
  15. 1.6 2 km WNW 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.