Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Stafford, OR
No earthquake was likely felt in Stafford in the 24 hours to 5:49 am PST (13:49 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 5 km (3 mi) SW, at 1:25 pm PST on 2 March 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Stafford
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) south of Stafford, OR, at 3:49 am PST on 21 January 2026 (11:49 UTC), 18 km deep.
USGS: 4 km SSE of Stafford, Oregon
24 km (15 mi) S of Portland, OR · 13 km (8 mi) SSE of Tigard, OR
- When
- 3:49 am PST on 21 January 2026 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) south of Stafford, OR · earthquakes near Stafford
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 18 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Multnomah County, 33 km NE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 283 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Stafford, OR
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Stafford, 7 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: Wilsonville, Canby, Oregon City, West Linn, Tualatin, Durham.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 4 km E of Scotts Mills, Oregon · 33 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.2 5 km E of Bridgeton, Oregon · 32 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 3 km SW of Portland, Oregon · 20 km N 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 45.3222, -122.6972. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multnomah County, OR | 33 km (21 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Multnomah County |
| Washington County, OR | 40 km (25 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Washington County |
| Clackamas County, OR | 43 km (27 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Clackamas County |
| Marion County, OR | 48 km (30 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Marion County |
| Yamhill County, OR | 49 km (31 mi) | W | earthquakes near Yamhill County |
| Clark County, WA | 53 km (33 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Clark County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
28 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
- 1.0 7 km NW of Yamhill, Oregon
- 1.6 3 km SSW of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 1.4 6 km SE of Molalla, Oregon
- 0.9 6 km WNW of King City, Oregon
- 1.1 4 km ENE of Lafayette, Oregon
- 1.4 9 km SSE of Scappoose, Oregon
- 1.6 1 km SW of Mount Angel, Oregon
- 1.2 13 km SE of Scotts Mills, Oregon
- 2.0 10 km SSE of Scappoose, Oregon
- 2.1 8 km ESE of Molalla, Oregon
- 1.6 5 km SSE of Molalla, Oregon
- 2.0 2 km SE of Amity, Oregon
- 1.9 1 km SE of Vancouver, Washington
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.