TULSA, Okla. — Oklahoma is no stranger to small earthquakes. Small fault lines riddle the state and are often the focal points for tremors, most of which are not felt by us. The past decade brought us a huge surge in those earthquakes, many of which were felt. A few of the largest tremors even caused some damage in parts of the state.
Last year brought us only 78 earthquakes with a magnitude 2.5 or greater. This was the lowest count of these earthquakes since 2009 when only 33 earthquakes at the magnitude or greater were detected. There has been a gradual decline in the number of these earthquakes since 2019. Most of our recent earthquakes have occurred In north-central, central and southeast parts of the state.
The strongest earthquake last year occurred near Medford, Okla. in the northern part of the state with a 4.5 magnitude. Recent years had similar strength earthquakes in various parts of the state. The biggest earthquake measured occurred in 2016 near Pawnee, Okla. at a 5.8 magnitude. Since 2016, our state has not seen a magnitude 5.0 earthquake or greater.
So far in 2023 — as of Jan. 10 — no earthquakes at or above 2.5 magnitude have occurred.
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