QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

11 km NE of Vernonia, Oregon

· -0.3 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Columbia County 1 kmWashington County 43 kmCowlitz County 43 kmWahkiakum County 47 kmClatsop County 48 kmClark County 51 kmMultnomah County 69 kmTillamook County 74 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
-0.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Columbia County, 1 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 882 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 6.4 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 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 45.9412, -123.0988. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Columbia County, OR 1 km (1 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 43 km (27 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Cowlitz County
Wahkiakum County, WA 47 km (29 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Wahkiakum County
Clatsop County, OR 48 km (30 mi) E of here earthquakes near Clatsop County
Clark County, WA 51 km (32 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

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

  1. 1.6 6 km NNW of Clatskanie, Oregon
  2. 1.5 10 km NE of Castle Rock, Washington
  3. 1.6 7 km NE of Castle Rock, Washington
  4. 1.9 2 km WNW of Saint Helens, Oregon
  5. 1.6 3 km E of East Cathlamet, Washington
  6. 1.6 14 km ENE of East Cathlamet, Washington
  7. 2.1 8 km S of Scappoose, Oregon
  8. 1.7 8 km SW of Vernonia, Oregon
  9. 1.9 1 km ESE of North Portland, Oregon
  10. 1.9 13 km NW of West Longview, Washington
  11. 1.6 8 km S of Scappoose, Oregon
  12. 1.6 13 km NE of Vernonia, Oregon
  13. 1.6 2 km NNE of Columbia City, Oregon
  14. 1.7 18 km E of West Side Highway, Washington
  15. 1.6 19 km NE 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

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