QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0mb_lg

Earthquake near Alva, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Alva in the 24 hours to 5:36 pm CST (23:36 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) south-southwest of Alva, OK, at 1:42 am CST on 17 December 2018 (07:42 UTC), 5.0 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 16 km SSE of Waynoka, Oklahoma

1:42 am CST, Dec 17, 2018 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Alva Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Major County 27 kmWoods County 31 kmWoodward County 43 kmAlfalfa County 52 kmDewey County 57 kmBlaine County 72 kmBarber County 86 kmHarper County 87 kmEllis County 90 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
1:42 am CST on 17 December 2018 ()
Where
40 km (25 mi) south-southwest of Alva, OK · earthquakes near Alva
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 3.0 (mb_lg)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
5 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Major County, 27 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1557 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 73 km (45 mi) from the epicentre. In Alva, 40 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: Fairview 35 km, intensity III · Mooreland 37 km, intensity III · Alva 40 km, intensity III · Helena 47 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 1,400 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 36.4566, -98.7897. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Major County, OK 27 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Major County
Woods County, OK 31 km (19 mi) NNW earthquakes near Woods County
Woodward County, OK 43 km (27 mi) W earthquakes near Woodward County
Alfalfa County, OK 52 km (32 mi) NE earthquakes near Alfalfa County
Dewey County, OK 57 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Dewey County
Blaine County, OK 72 km (45 mi) SSE earthquakes near Blaine 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.

  1. 2.6 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  2. 1.9 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  3. 1.9 10 km N of Chester, Oklahoma
  4. 1.7 9 km SW of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  5. 1.9 11 km N of Chester, Oklahoma
  6. 1.9 10 km SW of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  7. 2.0 6 km ENE of Cleo Springs, Oklahoma
  8. 1.9 10 km NNW of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  9. 2.1 9 km NE of Quinlan, Oklahoma
  10. 1.9 17 km SE of Waynoka, Oklahoma
  11. 1.9 9 km NE of Quinlan, Oklahoma
  12. 2.1 7 km SW of Avard, Oklahoma
  13. 1.8 10 km ESE of Lambert, Oklahoma
  14. 2.1 10 km ESE of Lambert, Oklahoma
  15. 2.3 1 km SSW of Chester, 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.