QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near The Dalles, OR

USGS: 3 km NE of Wishram, Washington

10:43 am PDT, Oct 23, 2018 · · -1.3 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Klickitat County 25 kmSherman County 37 kmHood River County 59 kmWasco County 60 kmGilliam County 61 kmSkamania County 88 kmYakima County 88 kmMorrow County 108 kmClackamas County 114 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
10:43 am PDT on 23 October 2018 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) ENE of The Dalles, OR · earthquakes near The Dalles
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
-1.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Klickitat County, 25 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2901 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) ENE of The Dalles, OR, at 10:43 am PDT on 23 October 2018 (17:43 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Goldendale, Dallesport, Chenoweth.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 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 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 45.6770, -120.9383. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Klickitat County, WA 25 km (15 mi) NNE earthquakes near Klickitat County
Sherman County, OR 37 km (23 mi) SSE earthquakes near Sherman County
Hood River County, OR 59 km (37 mi) WSW earthquakes near Hood River County
Wasco County, OR 60 km (37 mi) SSW earthquakes near Wasco County
Gilliam County, OR 61 km (38 mi) ESE earthquakes near Gilliam County
Skamania County, WA 88 km (54 mi) WNW earthquakes near Skamania 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. 1.7 3 km NE of Dallesport, Washington
  2. 1.8 4 km E of Dallesport, Washington
  3. 1.7 1 km SSE of Goldendale, Washington
  4. 1.7 6 km SE of Mosier, Oregon
  5. 1.9 1 km NNE of Dallesport, Washington
  6. 1.6 5 km N of Mosier, Oregon
  7. 1.7 8 km SE of Wasco, Oregon
  8. 1.7 1 km ESE of Chenoweth, Oregon
  9. 2.0 3 km ESE of Goldendale, Washington
  10. 1.6 4 km ENE of Dallesport, Washington
  11. 1.5 5 km ESE of Dufur, Oregon
  12. 1.9 13 km E of Goldendale, Washington
  13. 1.9 13 km ESE of Trout Lake, Washington
  14. 1.7 6 km E of The Dalles, Oregon
  15. 1.6 1 km E of Moro, 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.