Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Alva, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Alva in the 24 hours to 10:36 pm CST (04:36 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 144 km (90 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 Alva
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Alva, OK, at 7:46 am CST on 5 January 2023 (13:46 UTC), 5.6 km deep.
USGS: 0 km ESE of Avard, Oklahoma
- When
- 7:46 am CST on 5 January 2023 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Alva, OK · earthquakes near Alva
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Woods County, 8 km WNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1406 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Alva, OK
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Alva, 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Alva, 16 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.3 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 180,000 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 36.6972, -98.7815. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woods County, OK | 8 km (5 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Woods County |
| Alfalfa County, OK | 41 km (25 mi) | E | earthquakes near Alfalfa County |
| Major County, OK | 48 km (30 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Major County |
| Woodward County, OK | 53 km (33 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Woodward County |
| Barber County, KS | 59 km (37 mi) | N | earthquakes near Barber County |
| Comanche County, KS | 68 km (42 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Comanche County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 2 km SE of Aline, Oklahoma
- 1.8 Oklahoma
- 1.8 0 km SW of Cleo Springs, Oklahoma
- 1.6 0 km SSW of Cleo Springs, Oklahoma
- 1.8 0 km SSE of Cleo Springs, Oklahoma
- 1.6 0 km ESE of Cleo Springs, Oklahoma
- 1.7 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 1.6 7 km WSW of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.0 18 km ESE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 1.5 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 1.9 16 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 1.7 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.0 Oklahoma
- 2.2 4 km NNE of Quinlan, Oklahoma
- 1.6 16 km SE of Waynoka, 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.