QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

10 km NNE of Vernonia, Oregon

· -0.4 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Columbia County 3 kmWashington County 43 kmCowlitz County 44 kmWahkiakum County 46 kmClatsop County 46 kmClark County 52 kmMultnomah County 70 kmTillamook County 73 kmYamhill County 79 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
-0.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Columbia County, 3 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1256 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 5.4 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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.

Where

Epicentre 45.9402, -123.1180. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Columbia County, OR 3 km (2 mi) W of here earthquakes near Columbia County
Washington County, OR 43 km (27 mi) N of here earthquakes near Washington County
Cowlitz County, WA 44 km (28 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Cowlitz County
Wahkiakum County, WA 46 km (29 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Wahkiakum County
Clatsop County, OR 46 km (29 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Clatsop County
Clark County, WA 52 km (33 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Clark County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 19 km WSW of Westport, Oregon
  2. 2.3 19 km E of Kelso, Washington
  3. 2.0 19 km E of Kelso, Washington
  4. 1.5 9 km ENE of Kalama, Washington
  5. 1.6 4 km SW of Cathlamet, Washington
  6. 1.6 5 km W of Clatskanie, Oregon
  7. 1.6 17 km WNW of Banks, Oregon
  8. 1.8 7 km WNW of Warren, Oregon
  9. 1.8 5 km NNE of La Center, Washington
  10. 2.0 8 km WNW of Warren, Oregon
  11. 1.7 14 km W of Deer Island, Oregon
  12. 2.0 1 km N of Longview, Washington
  13. 1.5 7 km WNW of Forest Grove, Oregon
  14. 1.8 3 km WSW of Felida, Washington
  15. 1.7 7 km E of Kalama, Washington

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.