explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Lebanon, OR
USGS: 2 km N of Waterloo, Oregon
25 km (16 mi) ESE of Albany, OR · 115 km (71 mi) S of Portland, OR
- When
- 12:52 pm PST on 12 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) ESE of Lebanon, OR · earthquakes near Lebanon
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Linn County, 23 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3581 days ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) ESE of Lebanon, OR, at 12:52 pm PST on 12 December 2016 (20:52 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: South Lebanon, Sweet Home, Brownsville, Tangent, Albany, Millersburg.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 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 44.5122, -122.8257. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linn County, OR | 23 km (14 mi) | E | earthquakes near Linn County |
| Marion County, OR | 48 km (30 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Marion County |
| Benton County, OR | 48 km (30 mi) | W | earthquakes near Benton County |
| Polk County, OR | 63 km (39 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Polk County |
| Lane County, OR | 65 km (40 mi) | S | earthquakes near Lane County |
| Lincoln County, OR | 87 km (54 mi) | W | earthquakes near Lincoln County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 5 km E of Crabtree, Oregon
- 2.1 6 km WNW of Junction City, Oregon
- 1.7 4 km N of Sweet Home, Oregon
- 2.2 3 km W of Mehama, Oregon
- 1.7 1 km NNW of Sweet Home, Oregon
- 1.7 6 km SSE of Lacomb, Oregon
- 1.6 10 km NNW of Adair Village, Oregon
- 1.6 4 km N of Waterloo, Oregon
- 1.5 2 km NW of Cascadia, Oregon
- 2.0 3 km W of Mehama, Oregon
- 1.6 6 km NNW of Mill City, Oregon
- 1.6 0 km WNW of Sweet Home, Oregon
- 1.7 5 km NW of Lacomb, Oregon
- 1.8 5 km N of Springfield, Oregon
- 1.9 2 km ESE of Sodaville, 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.