Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Sandy, OR
No earthquake was likely felt in Sandy in the 24 hours to 6:56 am PST (14:56 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 11 km (7 mi) NNE, at 11:46 am PDT on 24 April 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Sandy
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Sandy, OR, at 7:39 pm PST on 12 February 2020 (03:39 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 4 km SSW of Sandy, Oregon
34 km (21 mi) SE of Portland, OR · 19 km (12 mi) SE of Gresham, OR
- When
- 7:39 pm PST on 12 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Sandy, OR · earthquakes near Sandy
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Multnomah County, 23 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2459 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Sandy, OR
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Sandy, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Estacada, Damascus, Gresham, Happy Valley, Beavercreek, Troutdale.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 4 km E of Scotts Mills, Oregon · 44 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.2 5 km E of Bridgeton, Oregon · 36 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.0 3 km SW of Portland, Oregon · 35 km WNW 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 45.3635, -122.2935. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multnomah County, OR | 23 km (14 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Multnomah County |
| Clackamas County, OR | 24 km (15 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Clackamas County |
| Clark County, WA | 48 km (30 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Clark County |
| Hood River County, OR | 52 km (33 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Hood River County |
| Marion County, OR | 56 km (35 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Marion County |
| Washington County, OR | 66 km (41 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Washington County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 8 km NNW of Government Camp, Oregon
- 2.0 8 km NNW of Government Camp, Oregon
- 1.6 1 km SSE of King City, Oregon
- 2.0 4 km SE of Mill Plain, Washington
- 1.6 8 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
- 2.6 3 km SE of Mill Plain, Washington
- 1.7 4 km WNW of Molalla, Oregon
- 2.7 4 km WNW of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.7 8 km SE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.9 5 km E of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.7 5 km ESE of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.5 4 km NNW of North Bonneville, Washington
- 2.0 1 km NNW of Salmon Creek, Washington
- 2.0 7 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.8 3 km N of Wilsonville, 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.