QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

7 km N of Helix, Oregon

· 20 km deep · released about 88 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Umatilla County 37 kmWalla Walla County 40 kmColumbia County 71 kmFranklin County 71 kmBenton County 75 kmUnion County 85 kmMorrow County 92 kmGarfield County 103 kmAsotin County 114 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 2.3 (ml)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Umatilla County, 37 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 279 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 88 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 88 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 45.9202, -118.6555. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Umatilla County, OR 37 km (23 mi) N of here earthquakes near Umatilla County
Walla Walla County, WA 40 km (25 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Columbia County, WA 71 km (44 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Columbia County
Franklin County, WA 71 km (44 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Benton County, WA 75 km (46 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Benton County
Union County, OR 85 km (53 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Union County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 3 km W of Pendleton, Oregon
  2. 1.7 12 km NE of Hermiston, Oregon
  3. 1.5 14 km NE of Hermiston, Oregon
  4. 1.8 4 km SSW of Wallula, Washington
  5. 2.1 2 km N of Highland, Washington
  6. 2.1 5 km S of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  7. 1.7 12 km ENE of Hermiston, Oregon
  8. 2.0 7 km WNW of Highland, Washington
  9. 2.0 10 km W of Pendleton, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.