QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

17 km WNW of Banks, Oregon

· -0.5 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Washington County 22 kmColumbia County 35 kmTillamook County 42 kmYamhill County 48 kmClatsop County 49 kmClark County 66 kmWahkiakum County 69 kmMultnomah County 72 kmCowlitz County 76 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
-0.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Washington County, 22 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 711 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 45.6772, -123.3197. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Washington County, OR 22 km (14 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Washington County
Columbia County, OR 35 km (22 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Columbia County
Tillamook County, OR 42 km (26 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Tillamook County
Yamhill County, OR 48 km (30 mi) N of here earthquakes near Yamhill County
Clatsop County, OR 49 km (30 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Clatsop County
Clark County, WA 66 km (41 mi) W of here earthquakes near Clark County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 10 km SSE of Scappoose, Oregon
  2. 1.6 8 km SW of Vernonia, Oregon
  3. 1.5 3 km WSW of Kalama, Washington
  4. 1.9 21 km W of Forest Grove, Oregon
  5. 1.5 5 km WNW of King City, Oregon
  6. 2.0 2 km WNW of Dundee, Oregon
  7. 1.6 15 km ESE of Wheeler, Oregon
  8. 1.6 9 km E of Wheeler, Oregon
  9. 1.9 2 km WNW of Saint Helens, Oregon
  10. 2.1 8 km S of Scappoose, Oregon
  11. 1.7 8 km SW of Vernonia, Oregon
  12. 1.6 8 km S of Scappoose, Oregon
  13. 1.6 13 km NE of Vernonia, Oregon
  14. 2.1 4 km NE of Lafayette, Oregon
  15. 1.6 24 km NNW of Sheridan, 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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