QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

3 km WSW of Kalama, Washington

· -0.4 km deep · released about 5.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Columbia County 16 kmCowlitz County 28 kmClark County 39 kmWashington County 52 kmWahkiakum County 53 kmMultnomah County 61 kmClatsop County 63 kmSkamania County 72 kmLewis County 76 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 1.5 (ml)
Depth
-0.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Columbia County, 16 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 45 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 5.6 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 45.9935, -122.8842. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Columbia County, OR 16 km (10 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Columbia County
Cowlitz County, WA 28 km (17 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Cowlitz County
Clark County, WA 39 km (25 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Clark County
Washington County, OR 52 km (32 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Washington County
Wahkiakum County, WA 53 km (33 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Wahkiakum County
Multnomah County, OR 61 km (38 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Multnomah County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.3 20 km E of Castle Rock, Washington
  2. 1.5 5 km NNW of Venersborg, Washington
  3. 1.7 18 km N of Amboy, Washington
  4. 0.7 21 km ESE of Castle Rock, Washington
  5. 1.0 32 km NNE of Amboy, Washington
  6. 0.9 20 km E of Castle Rock, Washington
  7. 0.6 21 km ESE of Castle Rock, Washington
  8. 1.5 31 km E of Kelso, Washington
  9. 2.0 10 km SSE of Scappoose, Oregon
  10. 1.6 5 km WSW of Yacolt, Washington
  11. 1.7 20 km E of Castle Rock, Washington
  12. 3.8 20 km E of Castle Rock, Washington
  13. 1.6 32 km N of Amboy, Washington
  14. 1.8 4 km WSW of Yacolt, Washington
  15. 1.8 27 km N of Amboy, 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

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