Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Helena, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Helena in the 24 hours to 3:48 pm CST (21:48 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north of Helena, OK, at 9:07 am CDT on 27 April 2023 (14:07 UTC), 6.7 km deep.
USGS: 4 km N of Helena, Oklahoma
40 km (25 mi) WNW of Enid, OK · 142 km (88 mi) NNW of Oklahoma City, OK
- When
- 9:07 am CDT on 27 April 2023 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) north of Helena, OK · earthquakes near Helena
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Alfalfa County, 17 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1293 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Helena, 5 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 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 5.1 on 2016-02-13 — about 230,000 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 36.5875, -98.2610. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfalfa County, OK | 17 km (10 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alfalfa County |
| Major County, OK | 40 km (25 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Major County |
| Grant County, OK | 48 km (30 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Garfield County, OK | 48 km (30 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Garfield County |
| Woods County, OK | 56 km (35 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Woods County |
| Harper County, KS | 69 km (43 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Harper County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 3 km NNE of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 2.1 3 km NNE of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 1.6 3 km ESE of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 1.6 3 km N of Okeene, Oklahoma
- 1.8 6 km SSE of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 1.7 7 km SSE of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 1.9 7 km SSE of Manchester, Oklahoma
- 2.3 8 km N of Nash, Oklahoma
- 1.5 6 km ENE of Avard, Oklahoma
- 1.7 10 km WNW of Dacoma, Oklahoma
- 1.8 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 1.9 7 km E of Nescatunga, Oklahoma
- 1.6 9 km W of Jefferson, Oklahoma
- 1.6 2 km SE of Meno, Oklahoma
- 1.5 2 km SSE 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.