QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Salem, OR

USGS: Oregon

97 km (60 mi) S of Portland, OR · 35 km (21 mi) E of Albany, OR

8:30 am PDT, Jul 26, 2018 · · 1.2 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Linn County 22 kmMarion County 27 kmBenton County 63 kmPolk County 63 kmClackamas County 66 kmYamhill County 82 kmLane County 84 kmLincoln County 99 kmMultnomah County 100 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
8:30 am PDT on 26 July 2018 ()
Where
42 km (26 mi) SE of Salem, OR · earthquakes near Salem
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
1.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Linn County, 22 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2991 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) SE of Salem, OR, at 8:30 am PDT on 26 July 2018 (15:30 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Lyons, Mill City, Stayton, Sublimity, Lebanon, Aumsville.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. 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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 4 km E of Scotts Mills, Oregon · 41 km N 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 44.6675, -122.6643. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Linn County, OR 22 km (14 mi) SSE earthquakes near Linn County
Marion County, OR 27 km (17 mi) NNE earthquakes near Marion County
Benton County, OR 63 km (39 mi) WSW earthquakes near Benton County
Polk County, OR 63 km (39 mi) WNW earthquakes near Polk County
Clackamas County, OR 66 km (41 mi) NE earthquakes near Clackamas County
Yamhill County, OR 82 km (51 mi) NW earthquakes near Yamhill 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.

  1. 1.7 4 km SSW of Scotts Mills, Oregon
  2. 1.5 6 km SSE of Molalla, Oregon
  3. 1.6 13 km ESE of Lacomb, Oregon
  4. 1.8 10 km N of Mill City, Oregon
  5. 1.7 3 km SW of Scotts Mills, Oregon
  6. 1.5 20 km SSW of Cascadia, Oregon
  7. 1.7 7 km SE of Crabtree, Oregon
  8. 1.5 14 km SE of Holley, Oregon
  9. 1.6 4 km NNW of Waterloo, Oregon
  10. 1.8 5 km E of Crabtree, Oregon
  11. 1.8 5 km E of Silverton, Oregon
  12. 2.0 4 km E of Scotts Mills, Oregon
  13. 1.7 4 km N of Sweet Home, Oregon
  14. 2.2 3 km W of Mehama, Oregon
  15. 1.8 Washington-Oregon border region

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.