explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Ashland, OR
USGS: 7 km ENE of Ashland, Oregon
22 km (14 mi) SE of Medford, OR
- When
- 1:39 pm PDT on 29 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 7 km (5 mi) ENE of Ashland, OR · earthquakes near Ashland
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Jackson County, 21 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2346 days ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) ENE of Ashland, OR, at 1:39 pm PDT on 29 April 2020 (20:39 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Talent, Phoenix, Medford, White City, Central Point, Jacksonville.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 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 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 27 km WNW of Klamath Falls, Oregon · 49 km ENE 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 42.2218, -122.6270. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson County, OR | 21 km (13 mi) | N | earthquakes near Jackson County |
| Siskiyou County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | S | earthquakes near Siskiyou County |
| Josephine County, OR | 80 km (50 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Josephine County |
| Klamath County, OR | 95 km (59 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Klamath County |
| Del Norte County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Del Norte County |
| Douglas County, OR | 126 km (78 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Douglas County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 22 km E of Ashland, Oregon
- 1.5 6 km W of Central Point, Oregon
- 1.9 17 km SW of Ashland, Oregon
- 1.9 24 km E of Hornbrook, CA
- 1.8 6 km NNW of Eagle Point, Oregon
- 1.6 20 km E of Hornbrook, California
- 1.8 18 km E of Hornbrook, California
- 1.8 6 km SE of White City, Oregon
- 1.9 8 km E of Ashland, Oregon
- 1.6 15 km ENE of Hornbrook, California
- 1.6 7 km NNW of Eagle Point, Oregon
- 1.5 15 km SE of Ashland, Oregon
- 1.7 7 km SSE of White City, Oregon
- 1.5 5 km ENE of Medford, Oregon
- 1.9 6 km NE of Medford, 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.