QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

19 km WSW 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 31 kmClatsop County 32 kmWashington County 38 kmTillamook County 46 kmWahkiakum County 54 kmYamhill County 63 kmCowlitz County 73 kmClark County 74 kmMultnomah County 84 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, 31 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 983 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 45.8062, -123.4338. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Columbia County, OR 31 km (19 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Columbia County
Clatsop County, OR 32 km (20 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Clatsop County
Washington County, OR 38 km (24 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Washington County
Tillamook County, OR 46 km (29 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Tillamook County
Wahkiakum County, WA 54 km (34 mi) S of here earthquakes near Wahkiakum County
Yamhill County, OR 63 km (39 mi) N of here earthquakes near Yamhill 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. 1.6 8 km SW of Vernonia, Oregon
  2. 1.5 3 km WSW of Kalama, Washington
  3. 1.5 11 km ENE of East Cathlamet, Washington
  4. 1.9 21 km W of Forest Grove, Oregon
  5. 1.6 15 km ESE of Wheeler, Oregon
  6. 1.6 6 km NNW of Clatskanie, Oregon
  7. 1.6 9 km E of Wheeler, Oregon
  8. 1.6 3 km E of East Cathlamet, Washington
  9. 2.1 8 km S of Scappoose, Oregon
  10. 1.7 8 km SW of Vernonia, Oregon
  11. 1.6 13 km NE of Vernonia, Oregon
  12. 1.6 13 km E of Wheeler, Oregon
  13. 1.8 8 km SW of Scappoose, Oregon
  14. 2.2 2 km SSW of Banks, Oregon
  15. 2.0 16 km W of Forest Grove, 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

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