explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Baker City, OR
USGS: 5 km SE of North Powder, Oregon
- When
- 11:15 am PST on 4 December 2017 ()
- Where
- 25 km (16 mi) N of Baker City, OR · earthquakes near Baker City
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- -1.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Union County, 35 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- West Baker Valley fault, 17 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 3223 days ago
A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) N of Baker City, OR, at 11:15 am PST on 4 December 2017 (19:15 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Union.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 44.9998, -117.8682. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union County, OR | 35 km (22 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Union County |
| Baker County, OR | 36 km (22 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Baker County |
| Wallowa County, OR | 85 km (53 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Wallowa County |
| Umatilla County, OR | 94 km (59 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Umatilla County |
| Washington County, ID | 104 km (65 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Washington County |
| Grant County, OR | 106 km (66 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Grant County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
26 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 2 km NNW of North Powder, Oregon
- 2.1 19 km NE of Baker City, Oregon
- 2.6 24 km ENE of Baker City, Oregon
- 2.7 21 km NW of Halfway, Oregon
- 2.4 17 km SE of Baker City, Oregon
- 1.6 6 km WSW of La Grande, Oregon
- 1.9 15 km SE of Baker City, Oregon
- 1.8 10 km SE of La Grande, Oregon
- 1.6 21 km ESE of Cove, Oregon
- 2.5 17 km SE of Baker City, Oregon
- 1.9 16 km SE of Baker City, Oregon
- 1.7 10 km SSE of Baker City, Oregon
- 2.3 Oregon-Idaho border region
- 1.8 28 km SE of Baker City, Oregon
- 2.1 19 km SSW of La Grande, 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.