QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

13 km ENE of Vernonia, Oregon

· 4.8 km deep · released about 5.9 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Columbia County 4 kmWashington County 41 kmCowlitz County 42 kmClark County 46 kmWahkiakum County 51 kmClatsop County 53 kmMultnomah County 64 kmTillamook County 76 kmYamhill County 78 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 1.5 (ml)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Columbia County, 4 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1833 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 5.9 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 45.9203, -123.0417. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Columbia County, OR 4 km (2 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Columbia County
Washington County, OR 41 km (25 mi) N of here earthquakes near Washington County
Cowlitz County, WA 42 km (26 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Cowlitz County
Clark County, WA 46 km (29 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Clark County
Wahkiakum County, WA 51 km (32 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Wahkiakum County
Clatsop County, OR 53 km (33 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Clatsop County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 3 km W of Columbia City, Oregon
  2. 1.8 4 km NNW of West Longview, Washington
  3. 1.7 Oregon
  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. 2.3 2 km SW of Lake Shore, Washington
  12. 2.7 11 km W of Deer Island, Oregon
  13. 1.7 1 km N of Deer Island, Oregon
  14. 2.5 3 km SW of Lake Shore, Washington
  15. 2.3 0 km S of Banks, 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.