QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Gold Beach, OR

USGS: 7 km NNW of Nesika Beach, Oregon

4:38 pm PDT, Oct 9, 2021 · · -0.5 km deep · released about 26 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Curry County 22 kmJosephine County 74 kmCoos County 74 kmDel Norte County 98 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
4:38 pm PDT on 9 October 2021 ()
Where
18 km (11 mi) N of Gold Beach, OR · earthquakes near Gold Beach
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
-0.5 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Curry County, 22 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Cascadia fold and fault belt, 9 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 1749 days ago

A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) N of Gold Beach, OR, at 4:38 pm PDT on 9 October 2021 (23:38 UTC). 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS. This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Port Orford.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 26 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 580,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 410,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 36× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 26 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2019-11-30 — about 7,200 times the energy of this one.

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 42.5670, -124.4395. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Curry County, OR 22 km (14 mi) ESE earthquakes near Curry County
Josephine County, OR 74 km (46 mi) ESE earthquakes near Josephine County
Coos County, OR 74 km (46 mi) NNE earthquakes near Coos County
Del Norte County, CA 98 km (61 mi) SSE earthquakes near Del Norte County
Douglas County, OR 132 km (82 mi) NE earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 7 km ESE of Pistol River, Oregon
  2. 1.6 6 km E of Pistol River, Oregon
  3. 1.8 6 km E of Pistol River, Oregon
  4. 1.6 8 km E of Pistol River, Oregon
  5. 1.8 10 km NNE of Nesika Beach, Oregon
  6. 1.7 7 km E of Pistol River, Oregon
  7. 1.8 15 km SSW of Pistol River, Oregon
  8. 3.0 6 km E of Pistol River, Oregon
  9. 1.7 12 km SSE of Port Orford, Oregon
  10. 2.6 10 km NW of Langlois, Oregon
  11. 1.6 6 km E of Pistol River, Oregon
  12. 2.1 11 km S of Port Orford, Oregon
  13. 1.9 12 km NW of Nesika Beach, Oregon
  14. 1.8 13 km NNW of Brookings, Oregon
  15. 2.4 12 km SSE of Port Orford, 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.