explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Amity, OR
USGS: 8 km ESE of Amity, Oregon
62 km (39 mi) SW of Portland, OR · 19 km (12 mi) NNW of Salem, OR
- When
- 12:05 pm PDT on 18 August 2016 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) ESE of Amity, OR · earthquakes near Amity
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Yamhill County, 24 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mount Angel fault, 22 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 558 days ago
A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) ESE of Amity, OR, at 12:05 pm PDT on 18 August 2016 (19:05 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Keizer, Hayesville, Dayton, McMinnville, Salem, Gervais.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 4 km E of Scotts Mills, Oregon · 40 km E 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 45.0817, -123.1135. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yamhill County, OR | 24 km (15 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Yamhill County |
| Polk County, OR | 30 km (19 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Polk County |
| Marion County, OR | 47 km (29 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Marion County |
| Washington County, OR | 52 km (33 mi) | N | earthquakes near Washington County |
| Tillamook County, OR | 65 km (41 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tillamook County |
| Benton County, OR | 70 km (43 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Benton 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.
- 2.0 3 km W of Mehama, Oregon
- 2.4 3 km WNW of Molalla, Oregon
- 2.6 6 km ESE of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.5 4 km W of Mulino, Oregon
- 1.7 4 km SSW of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.6 9 km NNW of Keizer, Oregon
- 1.7 9 km NNW of Keizer, Oregon
- 1.8 1 km N of Amity, Oregon
- 1.8 3 km S of Amity, Oregon
- 1.6 7 km S of Dayton, Oregon
- 1.7 4 km SSE of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.6 8 km NNW of Adair Village, Oregon
- 1.6 0 km WSW of Aloha, Oregon
- 1.9 2 km SSE of Fort Hill Census Designated Place, Oregon
- 1.9 2 km WNW of Mehama, Oregon
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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.