Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Alva, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Alva in the 24 hours to 6:30 am CST (12:30 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 41 km (25 mi) south-southwest of Alva, OK, at 1:37 pm CST on 20 February 2016 (19:37 UTC), 5.1 km deep.
USGS: 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- When
- 1:37 pm CST on 20 February 2016 ()
- Where
- 41 km (25 mi) south-southwest of Alva, OK · earthquakes near Alva
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Major County, 25 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3844 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Alva, 41 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× 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 7.6 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 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 36.4492, -98.7661. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major County, OK | 25 km (16 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Major County |
| Woods County, OK | 32 km (20 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Woods County |
| Woodward County, OK | 45 km (28 mi) | W | earthquakes near Woodward County |
| Alfalfa County, OK | 50 km (31 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Alfalfa County |
| Dewey County, OK | 57 km (35 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Dewey County |
| Blaine County, OK | 70 km (44 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Blaine County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.8 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 1.7 15 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.7 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 1.8 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.8 14 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 3.5 16 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 3.3 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.4 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.9 9 km SW of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.5 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.0 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 1.6 16 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
- 2.3 11 km N of Quinlan, Oklahoma
- 1.8 18 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.