QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Baker City, OR

USGS: 25 km NW of Huntington, Oregon

2:44 pm PDT, Mar 23, 2023 · · 2.0 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Baker City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Baker County 26 kmWashington County 55 kmPayette County 82 kmAdams County 90 kmUnion County 96 kmGem County 100 kmCanyon County 117 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
2:44 pm PDT on 23 March 2023 ()
Where
40 km (25 mi) SE of Baker City, OR · earthquakes near Baker City
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
2.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Baker County, 26 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 683 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) SE of Baker City, OR, at 2:44 pm PDT on 23 March 2023 (21:44 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 44.5217, -117.4840. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Baker County, OR 26 km (16 mi) NW earthquakes near Baker County
Washington County, ID 55 km (34 mi) E earthquakes near Washington County
Payette County, ID 82 km (51 mi) SE earthquakes near Payette County
Adams County, ID 90 km (56 mi) ENE earthquakes near Adams County
Union County, OR 96 km (60 mi) NNW earthquakes near Union County
Gem County, ID 100 km (62 mi) ESE earthquakes near Gem County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 29 km SW of Richland, Oregon
  2. 1.8 25 km NW of Huntington, Oregon
  3. 2.0 14 km NNE of Brogan, Oregon
  4. 2.0 28 km NW of Huntington, Oregon
  5. 1.7 27 km NW of Huntington, Oregon
  6. 2.1 24 km NW of Huntington, Oregon
  7. 1.7 25 km NW of Huntington, Oregon
  8. 1.8 27 km NW of Huntington, Oregon
  9. 2.2 27 km NW of Huntington, Oregon
  10. 1.6 23 km NNW of Huntington, Oregon
  11. 1.7 24 km NNW of Huntington, Oregon
  12. 1.9 22 km NNW of Huntington, Oregon
  13. 1.7 23 km NNW of Huntington, Oregon
  14. 1.6 24 km NW of Huntington, Oregon
  15. 1.9 26 km SW of Richland, 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.