QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9mb_lg

Earthquake near Cushing, OK

No earthquake was likely felt in Cushing in the 24 hours to 10:46 am CST (16:46 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) southeast of Cushing, OK, at 1:22 am CST on 31 December 2018 (07:22 UTC), 6.0 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SE of Cushing, Oklahoma

88 km (55 mi) NE of Oklahoma City, OK · 38 km (23 mi) SE of Stillwater, OK

1:22 am CST, Dec 31, 2018 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 21 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Payne County 27 kmLincoln County 30 kmCreek County 32 kmPawnee County 41 kmOkfuskee County 64 kmLogan County 65 kmNoble County 67 kmTulsa County 73 kmOklahoma County 75 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
1:22 am CST on 31 December 2018 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) southeast of Cushing, OK · earthquakes near Cushing
Oklahoma today
every earthquake in Oklahoma in the last 24 hours
Magnitude
M 1.9 (mb_lg)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Payne County, 27 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2808 days ago

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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Cushing, 6 km away, the estimate is intensity II (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 6 km, intensity II · Yale 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 45,000 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 · 46 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 35.9417, -96.7287. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Payne County, OK 27 km (17 mi) NW earthquakes near Payne County
Lincoln County, OK 30 km (19 mi) SSW earthquakes near Lincoln County
Creek County, OK 32 km (20 mi) E earthquakes near Creek County
Pawnee County, OK 41 km (26 mi) N earthquakes near Pawnee County
Okfuskee County, OK 64 km (40 mi) SE earthquakes near Okfuskee County
Logan County, OK 65 km (40 mi) W earthquakes near Logan 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. 2.7 4 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  2. 1.9 7 km E of Meeker, Oklahoma
  3. 1.6 5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
  4. 2.5 5 km NW of Stroud, Oklahoma
  5. 2.5 5 km NW of Stroud, Oklahoma
  6. 2.2 5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
  7. 2.2 5 km E of Drumright, Oklahoma
  8. 1.5 6 km WSW of Sparks, Oklahoma
  9. 1.6 5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
  10. 2.0 5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
  11. 1.6 3 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  12. 1.8 3 km WNW of Cushing, Oklahoma
  13. 1.9 3 km W of Cushing, Oklahoma
  14. 3.4 5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
  15. 2.1 5 km N of Stroud, 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.