QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

3 km WSW of Cathlamet, Washington

· -0.3 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Wahkiakum County 11 kmClatsop County 29 kmColumbia County 38 kmPacific County 49 kmCowlitz County 57 kmWashington County 75 kmTillamook County 86 kmClark County 86 kmLewis County 91 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
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
-0.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Wahkiakum County, 11 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2499 days ago

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 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.

Where

Epicentre 46.1920, -123.4223. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Wahkiakum County, WA 11 km (7 mi) S of here earthquakes near Wahkiakum County
Clatsop County, OR 29 km (18 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Clatsop County
Columbia County, OR 38 km (24 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Columbia County
Pacific County, WA 49 km (30 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Pacific County
Cowlitz County, WA 57 km (36 mi) W of here earthquakes near Cowlitz County
Washington County, OR 75 km (47 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Washington County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 10 km SW of Vernonia, Oregon
  2. 1.6 10 km NW of West Longview, Washington
  3. 1.8 4 km NNW of West Longview, Washington
  4. 1.5 19 km WSW of Vernonia, Oregon
  5. 1.9 4 km WSW of Cathlamet, Washington
  6. 1.8 6 km SW of Clatskanie, Oregon
  7. 1.7 Washington-Oregon border region
  8. 1.7 Oregon
  9. 1.9 Washington-Oregon border region
  10. 1.7 3 km NW of West Longview, Washington
  11. 2.7 11 km W of Deer Island, Oregon
  12. 1.5 10 km W of Vernonia, Oregon
  13. 1.7 12 km NNE of Vernonia, Oregon
  14. 1.5 10 km NNE of Vernonia, Oregon
  15. 1.8 4 km NNW of Skamokawa Valley, Washington

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.