Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Castle Rock, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Castle Rock in the 24 hours to 8:19 am PST (16:19 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 11 km (7 mi) NE, at 4:32 pm PDT on 8 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Castle Rock
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) northeast of Castle Rock, WA, at 3:56 pm PDT on 25 March 2026 (22:56 UTC), 7.4 km deep.
USGS: 7 km NE of Castle Rock, Washington
90 km (56 mi) N of Portland, OR
- When
- 3:56 pm PDT on 25 March 2026 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) northeast of Castle Rock, WA · earthquakes near Castle Rock
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Cowlitz County, 20 km SE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 232 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Castle Rock, WA
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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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Castle Rock, 8 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: West Side Highway, Longview Heights, Winlock, Kelso, West Longview, Longview.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 23 km S of Morton, Washington · 47 km E 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 46.3310, -122.8477. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cowlitz County, WA | 20 km (12 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Cowlitz County |
| Wahkiakum County, WA | 44 km (28 mi) | W | earthquakes near Wahkiakum County |
| Lewis County, WA | 45 km (28 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Lewis County |
| Columbia County, OR | 47 km (29 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Columbia County |
| Thurston County, WA | 67 km (42 mi) | N | earthquakes near Thurston County |
| Clark County, WA | 68 km (42 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Clark County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 0.3 32 km N of Amboy, Washington
- 1.4 11 km NE of Vernonia, Oregon
- 0.1 22 km ESE of Castle Rock, Washington
- 0.2 35 km NNE of Amboy, Washington
- 0.5 7 km SE of Mossyrock, Washington
- 0.3 7 km NE of Mossyrock, Washington
- 0.0 34 km NNE of Amboy, Washington
- 0.3 34 km NNE of Amboy, Washington
- -0.1 34 km NNE of Amboy, Washington
- 0.3 34 km NNE of Amboy, Washington
- 1.6 10 km S of Toledo, Washington
- 1.3 6 km NNW of Clatskanie, Oregon
- 0.6 20 km S of Morton, Washington
- 1.6 20 km E of Castle Rock, Washington
- 0.6 21 km ESE of Castle Rock, 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.