explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Salem, OR
No earthquake was likely felt in Salem in the 24 hours to 2:02 pm PST (22:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 18 km (11 mi) NNW, at 7:58 am PST on 23 November 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 228 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salem
No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 2.1 explosion was recorded 34 km (21 mi) east-southeast of Salem, OR, at 8:03 am PDT on 16 August 2023 (15:03 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: Oregon
83 km (52 mi) S of Portland, OR · 32 km (20 mi) ESE of Salem, OR
- When
- 8:03 am PDT on 16 August 2023 ()
- Where
- 34 km (21 mi) east-southeast of Salem, OR · earthquakes near Salem
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Marion County, 14 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mount Angel fault, 24 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 1183 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salem, OR
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Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Salem, 34 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Lyons, Stayton, Sublimity, Mill City, Aumsville, Turner.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 40 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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 4.4 on 2022-10-07 — about 2,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 4 km E of Scotts Mills, Oregon · 28 km N of this epicentre
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 44.7872, -122.6627. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marion County, OR | 14 km (9 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Marion County |
| Linn County, OR | 35 km (22 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Linn County |
| Clackamas County, OR | 55 km (34 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Clackamas County |
| Polk County, OR | 59 km (37 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Polk County |
| Benton County, OR | 69 km (43 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Benton County |
| Yamhill County, OR | 73 km (45 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Yamhill County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 6 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.6 4 km SSW of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.8 6 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.8 3 km W of Mehama, Oregon
- 1.5 1 km NNE of Cascadia, Oregon
- 2.1 7 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.5 4 km SSW of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.5 1 km SSE of Hubbard, Oregon
- 2.0 4 km N of Sweet Home, Oregon
- 1.8 8 km ESE of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.6 6 km SSE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.8 5 km N of Waterloo, Oregon
- 1.6 4 km NW of Brownsville, Oregon
- 1.7 5 km W of Mehama, Oregon
- 1.5 27 km NNE of Gates, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.