QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near La Grande, OR

USGS: 12 km WSW of Lostine, Oregon

1:24 am PST, Jan 5, 2021 · · 10 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Grande Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Wallowa County 35 kmUnion County 36 kmBaker County 81 kmAsotin County 88 kmUmatilla County 92 kmColumbia County 99 kmAdams County 107 kmGarfield County 111 kmWalla Walla County 116 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
1:24 am PST on 5 January 2021 ()
Where
42 km (26 mi) ENE of La Grande, OR · earthquakes near La Grande
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Wallowa County, 35 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
East Grande Ronde Valley fault, 19 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2096 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) ENE of La Grande, OR, at 1:24 am PST on 5 January 2021 (09:24 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Enterprise, Joseph.

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 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× 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 45.4300, -117.5735. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Wallowa County, OR 35 km (22 mi) ENE earthquakes near Wallowa County
Union County, OR 36 km (22 mi) WSW earthquakes near Union County
Baker County, OR 81 km (51 mi) S earthquakes near Baker County
Asotin County, WA 88 km (55 mi) NNE earthquakes near Asotin County
Umatilla County, OR 92 km (57 mi) WNW earthquakes near Umatilla County
Columbia County, WA 99 km (62 mi) NNW earthquakes near Columbia County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 3 km SSE of Wallowa, Oregon
  2. 1.5 22 km NNE of Elgin, Oregon
  3. 1.6 13 km SW of Lostine, Oregon
  4. 1.8 10 km SE of La Grande, Oregon
  5. 1.6 21 km ESE of Cove, Oregon
  6. 2.7 6 km NNW of Summerville, Oregon
  7. 2.0 15 km WSW of Lostine, Oregon
  8. 1.6 14 km NE of Cove, Oregon
  9. 2.1 17 km WSW of Lostine, Oregon
  10. 2.0 15 km WSW of Lostine, Oregon
  11. 1.5 17 km WSW of Lostine, Oregon
  12. 1.8 16 km WSW of Lostine, Oregon
  13. 1.8 16 km WSW of Lostine, Oregon
  14. 2.2 15 km WSW of Lostine, Oregon
  15. 2.7 12 km WSW of Lostine, 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.