QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Alva, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Alva in the 24 hours to 10:53 am CST (16:53 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) southwest of Alva, OK, at 12:04 pm CDT on 16 October 2024 (17:04 UTC), 4.6 km deep.

USGS: 7 km NNW of Waynoka, Oklahoma

12:04 pm CDT, Oct 16, 2024 · · 4.6 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Woods County 9 kmWoodward County 41 kmMajor County 50 kmAlfalfa County 53 kmComanche County 67 kmBarber County 67 kmHarper County 69 kmDewey County 75 kmEllis County 89 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
12:04 pm CDT on 16 October 2024 ()
Where
27 km (17 mi) southwest of Alva, OK · earthquakes near Alva
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
4.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Woods County, 9 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 756 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Alva, 27 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 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 110,000 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 36.6498, -98.9072. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Woods County, OK 9 km (6 mi) NNE earthquakes near Woods County
Woodward County, OK 41 km (26 mi) SW earthquakes near Woodward County
Major County, OK 50 km (31 mi) SE earthquakes near Major County
Alfalfa County, OK 53 km (33 mi) E earthquakes near Alfalfa County
Comanche County, KS 67 km (41 mi) NNW earthquakes near Comanche County
Barber County, KS 67 km (41 mi) NNE earthquakes near Barber County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.1 16 km ESE of Quinlan, Oklahoma
  2. 1.1 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  3. 1.8 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  4. 0.2 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  5. 1.8 3 km ESE of Aline, Oklahoma
  6. 1.5 14 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  7. 1.7 15 km W of Aline, Oklahoma
  8. 2.4 15 km W of Aline, Oklahoma
  9. 1.7 14 km SSE of Freedom, Oklahoma
  10. 1.6 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  11. 2.3 5 km S of Dacoma, Oklahoma
  12. 3.0 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  13. 1.8 15 km S of Freedom, Oklahoma
  14. 2.2 7 km W of Carmen, Oklahoma
  15. 2.3 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.