QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

8 km SW of Vernonia, Oregon

· -0.6 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N Columbia County 22 kmWashington County 31 kmClatsop County 41 kmTillamook County 54 kmWahkiakum County 55 kmClark County 62 kmYamhill County 62 kmCowlitz County 64 kmMultnomah County 73 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 1.7 (ml)
Depth
-0.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Columbia County, 22 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 229 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 12 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 45.8062, -123.2792. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Columbia County, OR 22 km (13 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Columbia County
Washington County, OR 31 km (20 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Washington County
Clatsop County, OR 41 km (25 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Clatsop County
Tillamook County, OR 54 km (34 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Tillamook County
Wahkiakum County, WA 55 km (34 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Wahkiakum County
Clark County, WA 62 km (38 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

13 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. 1.8 3 km E of Kalama, Washington
  4. 1.5 3 km WSW of Kalama, Washington
  5. 1.5 11 km ENE of East Cathlamet, Washington
  6. 1.9 21 km W of Forest Grove, Oregon
  7. 1.6 4 km NNE of Kalama, Washington
  8. 1.6 15 km ESE of Wheeler, Oregon
  9. 1.6 6 km NNW of Clatskanie, Oregon
  10. 1.6 9 km E of Wheeler, Oregon
  11. 1.9 2 km WNW of Saint Helens, Oregon
  12. 1.6 3 km E of East Cathlamet, Washington
  13. 2.1 8 km S of Scappoose, 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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