QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2ml

Earthquake near Lakeview, OR

USGS: 17 km SSE of Paisley, Oregon

5:09 pm PDT, May 15, 2018 · · -1.7 km deep · released about 52 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lakeview Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Lake County 26 kmKlamath County 99 kmModoc County 110 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
5:09 pm PDT on 15 May 2018 ()
Where
42 km (26 mi) NNW of Lakeview, OR · earthquakes near Lakeview
Magnitude
M 2.2 (ml)
Depth
-1.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Lake County, 26 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Winter Rim fault system, under 1 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 560 days ago

A magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) NNW of Lakeview, OR, at 5:09 pm PDT on 15 May 2018 (00:09 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 52 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 290,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 18× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 52 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:

  1. 5.0 3 km ENE of Lakeview, Oregon · 42 km SSE 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 42.5578, -120.4497. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Lake County, OR 26 km (16 mi) N earthquakes near Lake County
Klamath County, OR 99 km (61 mi) W earthquakes near Klamath County
Modoc County, CA 110 km (68 mi) SSW earthquakes near Modoc County
Harney County, OR 132 km (82 mi) ENE earthquakes near Harney County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

24 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.1 8 km WNW of Lakeview, Oregon
  2. 1.7 9 km WNW of Lakeview, Oregon
  3. 2.8 9 km WNW of Lakeview, Oregon
  4. 1.7 1 km WNW of Lakeview, Oregon
  5. 1.6 23 km NNE of Lakeview, Oregon
  6. 1.9 17 km WSW of Plush, Oregon
  7. 1.8 16 km SSE of Paisley, Oregon
  8. 2.2 17 km SSE of Paisley, Oregon
  9. 1.7 26 km N of Lakeview, Oregon
  10. 1.5 26 km N of Lakeview, Oregon
  11. 1.7 28 km N of Lakeview, Oregon
  12. 1.5 26 km N of Lakeview, Oregon
  13. 1.5 29 km N of Lakeview, Oregon
  14. 1.7 29 km N of Lakeview, Oregon
  15. 2.2 17 km SSE of Paisley, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.