Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 5.0mww
Earthquake near Cushing, OK
No earthquake was likely felt in Cushing in the 24 hours to 11:38 pm CST (05:38 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 122 km (76 mi) WSW, at 5:53 am CST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 23 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cushing
This page: a magnitude 5.0 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west of Cushing, OK, at 7:44 pm CST on 6 November 2016 (01:44 UTC), 4.4 km deep. 11,428 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
87 km (54 mi) NE of Oklahoma City, OK · 29 km (18 mi) ESE of Stillwater, OK
- When
- 7:44 pm CST on 6 November 2016 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) west of Cushing, OK · earthquakes near Cushing
- Oklahoma today
- every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
- Magnitude
- M 5.0 (mww)
- Depth
- 4.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 11,428 reports · strongest reported intensity VII
- Measured shaking
- intensity VII (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Nearest
- Payne County, 18 km WNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 266 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cushing, OK
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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 moderate earthquake. Shaking at this size can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 765 km (475 mi) from the epicentre. In Cushing, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity VI (strong). 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: Cushing 3 km, intensity VI · Yale 17 km, intensity VI · Perkins 21 km, intensity V · Stillwater 27 km, intensity V · Stroud 30 km, intensity V · Chandler 33 km, intensity V · Pawnee 39 km, intensity V · Langston 41 km, intensity V. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 480 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 5.0 about 480 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1,000× more
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 5.8 on 2016-09-03 — about 16 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 35.9907, -96.8030. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payne County, OK | 18 km (11 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Payne County |
| Lincoln County, OK | 33 km (20 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Lincoln County |
| Pawnee County, OK | 37 km (23 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Pawnee County |
| Creek County, OK | 39 km (24 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Creek County |
| Noble County, OK | 59 km (36 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Noble County |
| Logan County, OK | 59 km (37 mi) | W | earthquakes near Logan County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.6 10 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
- 2.6 2 km N of Skedee, Oklahoma
- 3.2 5 km WNW of Quay, Oklahoma
- 2.5 9 km NW of Morrison, Oklahoma
- 2.3 3 km WNW of Skedee, Oklahoma
- 3.0 7 km N of Maramec, Oklahoma
- 3.1 2 km WNW of Skedee, Oklahoma
- 2.3 3 km NNE of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 2.9 2 km NNW of Cushing, Oklahoma
- 2.6 5 km WSW of Glencoe, Oklahoma
- 2.6 5 km NNW of Maramec, Oklahoma
- 3.2 0 km NNW of Yale, Oklahoma
- 2.8 7 km NNE of Maramec, Oklahoma
- 2.5 7 km NNE of Maramec, Oklahoma
- 3.2 4 km NNE 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
- 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.