QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7mb_lg

Earthquake near Cushing, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Cushing in the 24 hours to 6:28 am CST (12:28 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 2.7 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) south of Cushing, OK, at 4:34 am CDT on 31 October 2018 (09:34 UTC), 6.2 km deep. 12 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3 km S of Cushing, Oklahoma

87 km (54 mi) NE of Oklahoma City, OK · 34 km (21 mi) SE of Stillwater, OK

4:34 am CDT, Oct 31, 2018 · · 6.2 km deep · released about 340 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Payne County 24 kmLincoln County 30 kmCreek County 35 kmPawnee County 40 kmLogan County 62 kmNoble County 64 kmOkfuskee County 67 kmOklahoma County 74 kmTulsa County 76 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
4:34 am CDT on 31 October 2018 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) south of Cushing, OK · earthquakes near Cushing
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 2.7 (mb_lg)
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
12 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Payne County, 24 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2851 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 Cushing, 3 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: Cushing 3 km, intensity III · Yale 18 km, intensity III · Perkins 25 km, intensity III · Stroud 25 km, intensity III · Chandler 30 km, intensity II · Stillwater 32 km, intensity II · Pawnee 43 km, intensity II · Langston 45 km, intensity II. 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 5.0 on 2016-11-07 — about 2,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma · 47 km S of this epicentre

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 35.9569, -96.7606. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Payne County, OK 24 km (15 mi) NW earthquakes near Payne County
Lincoln County, OK 30 km (19 mi) SSW earthquakes near Lincoln County
Creek County, OK 35 km (22 mi) E earthquakes near Creek County
Pawnee County, OK 40 km (25 mi) N earthquakes near Pawnee County
Logan County, OK 62 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Logan County
Noble County, OK 64 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Noble County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 3 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  2. 1.8 3 km WNW of Cushing, Oklahoma
  3. 1.9 3 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  4. 3.4 5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
  5. 2.1 5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
  6. 1.6 4 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  7. 1.6 5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
  8. 1.6 1 km WNW of Coyle, Oklahoma
  9. 1.7 10 km NE of Kendrick, Oklahoma
  10. 1.7 8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma
  11. 1.9 2 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  12. 2.2 4 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  13. 2.3 3 km WSW of Cushing, Oklahoma
  14. 2.5 2 km WSW of Cushing, Oklahoma
  15. 2.7 3 km WNW 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

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