QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7ml

Earthquake near Cherokee, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Cherokee in the 24 hours to 10:46 am CST (16:46 UTC). The last one was M 3.4, 130 km (81 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 Cherokee

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) west-southwest of Cherokee, OK, at 4:44 am CST on 22 November 2016 (10:44 UTC), 3.8 km deep.

USGS: 5 km N of Lambert, Oklahoma

4:44 am CST, Nov 22, 2016 · · 3.8 km deep · released about 340 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Alfalfa County 10 kmWoods County 38 kmMajor County 47 kmGrant County 58 kmBarber County 59 kmHarper County 61 kmGarfield County 69 kmWoodward County 82 kmComanche 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
4:44 am CST on 22 November 2016 ()
Where
7 km (5 mi) west-southwest of Cherokee, OK · earthquakes near Cherokee
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.7 (ml)
Depth
3.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Alfalfa County, 10 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3556 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 56 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Cherokee, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Cherokee 7 km, intensity III · Alva 23 km, intensity III · Helena 25 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 340 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 45,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 32,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 340 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 4,000 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 36.7283, -98.4320. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Alfalfa County, OK 10 km (6 mi) E earthquakes near Alfalfa County
Woods County, OK 38 km (24 mi) W earthquakes near Woods County
Major County, OK 47 km (29 mi) SSW earthquakes near Major County
Grant County, OK 58 km (36 mi) E earthquakes near Grant County
Barber County, KS 59 km (37 mi) NNW earthquakes near Barber County
Harper County, KS 61 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Harper County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 16 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  2. 2.6 5 km S of Nash, Oklahoma
  3. 2.6 14 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  4. 2.6 6 km SW of Byron, Oklahoma
  5. 2.8 7 km S of Ringwood, Oklahoma
  6. 3.4 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  7. 2.5 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  8. 2.6 Oklahoma
  9. 2.5 7 km SE of Byron, Oklahoma
  10. 2.6 8 km SE of Byron, Oklahoma
  11. 3.0 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  12. 2.6 17 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  13. 2.9 6 km NNW of Carmen, Oklahoma
  14. 2.5 6 km NNW of Carmen, Oklahoma
  15. 2.6 17 km SSE 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.