explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Silverton, OR
No earthquake was likely felt in Silverton in the 24 hours to 2:34 pm PST (22:34 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 8 km (5 mi) E, at 1:33 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Silverton
No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.7 explosion was recorded 12 km (7 mi) southeast of Silverton, OR, at 12:16 pm PST on 17 February 2025 (20:16 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 11 km SE of Silverton, Oregon
67 km (42 mi) S of Portland, OR · 27 km (17 mi) E of Salem, OR
- When
- 12:16 pm PST on 17 February 2025 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) southeast of Silverton, OR · earthquakes near Silverton
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Marion County, 9 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mount Angel fault, 7 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 631 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Silverton, OR
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Alerts are on for .
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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Silverton, 12 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: Sublimity, Stayton, Mount Angel, Lyons, Aumsville, Turner.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 12,000 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 · 13 km NNE 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 44.9332, -122.6753. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marion County, OR | 9 km (5 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Marion County |
| Clackamas County, OR | 45 km (28 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Clackamas County |
| Linn County, OR | 51 km (31 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Linn County |
| Polk County, OR | 57 km (35 mi) | W | earthquakes near Polk County |
| Yamhill County, OR | 61 km (38 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Yamhill County |
| Multnomah County, OR | 71 km (44 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Multnomah 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.
- 1.3 3 km SSW of Tualatin, Oregon
- 1.2 4 km ENE of Lafayette, Oregon
- 1.6 3 km SSW of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.4 6 km SE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.1 4 km ENE of Lafayette, Oregon
- 1.6 1 km SW of Mount Angel, Oregon
- 1.2 13 km SE of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 2.1 8 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.8 5 km NW of Lacomb, Oregon
- 1.6 5 km SSE of Molalla, Oregon
- 2.0 2 km SE of Amity, Oregon
- 1.5 9 km ESE of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.6 7 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.6 5 km NW of Lacomb, Oregon
- 1.7 7 km ESE of Amity, 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.