explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Boardman, OR
No earthquake was likely felt in Boardman in the 24 hours to 6:57 pm PST (02:57 UTC), and no quake recorded near town since 2016 is estimated to have been strong enough to notice there. Every earthquake near Boardman
No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.5 explosion was recorded 44 km (27 mi) west-southwest of Boardman, OR, at 12:30 pm PST on 20 January 2026 (20:30 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 4 km SSW of Arlington, Oregon
- When
- 12:30 pm PST on 20 January 2026 ()
- Where
- 44 km (27 mi) west-southwest of Boardman, OR · earthquakes near Boardman
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Gilliam County, 33 km S
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 293 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Boardman, OR
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Boardman, OR. No account or email needed.
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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Boardman, 44 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 45.6782, -120.2185. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gilliam County, OR | 33 km (21 mi) | S | earthquakes near Gilliam County |
| Sherman County, OR | 47 km (29 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Sherman County |
| Klickitat County, WA | 48 km (30 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Klickitat County |
| Morrow County, OR | 56 km (35 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Morrow County |
| Benton County, WA | 82 km (51 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Benton County |
| Wasco County, OR | 93 km (58 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Wasco County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
4 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 17 km ENE of Roosevelt, Washington
- 2.1 12 km SSE of Bickleton, Washington
- 1.9 7 km SW of Arlington, Oregon
- 1.8 8 km N of Condon, 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.