QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.3ml

Earthquake near Battle Ground, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Battle Ground in the 24 hours to 9:20 pm PST (05:20 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 28 km (17 mi) WNW, at 7:25 am PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 113 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Battle Ground

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.3 explosion was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Battle Ground, WA, at 4:31 pm PST on 3 November 2026 (00:31 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1 km NE of Cherry Grove, Washington

30 km (19 mi) NNE of Portland, OR · 19 km (12 mi) N of Vancouver, WA

4:31 pm PST, Nov 3, 2026 · · -0.2 km deep · released about 3.1 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Clark County 7 kmMultnomah County 31 kmColumbia County 43 kmCowlitz County 45 kmWashington County 50 kmSkamania County 53 kmClackamas County 77 kmHood River County 78 kmYamhill County 85 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
4:31 pm PST on 3 November 2026 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) northwest of Battle Ground, WA · earthquakes near Battle Ground
Magnitude
M 1.3 (ml)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Clark County, 7 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 9 days ago

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. 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: Lewisville, Dollar Corner, Meadow Glade, Brush Prairie, Mount Vista, Hockinson.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 310× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.3 about 3.1 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:

  1. 5.2 5 km E of Bridgeton, Oregon · 23 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.1 28 km ENE of Amboy, Washington · 42 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 3 km SW of Portland, Oregon · 35 km SSW 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 45.8028, -122.5650. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Clark County, WA 7 km (4 mi) ESE earthquakes near Clark County
Multnomah County, OR 31 km (19 mi) SSE earthquakes near Multnomah County
Columbia County, OR 43 km (27 mi) WNW earthquakes near Columbia County
Cowlitz County, WA 45 km (28 mi) NNW earthquakes near Cowlitz County
Washington County, OR 50 km (31 mi) WSW earthquakes near Washington County
Skamania County, WA 53 km (33 mi) ENE earthquakes near Skamania County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.1 2 km SSW of Amboy, Washington
  2. 0.5 10 km ENE of Amboy, Washington
  3. 0.7 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.

Revisions

USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.

What changedFromToWhen
event typeearthquakeexplosion
review statusautomaticreviewed
location3 km SSW of Amboy, Washington1 km NE of Cherry Grove, Washington
longitude-122.46-122.56
latitude45.8845.8
depth-0.21-0.23
magnitude1.991.34
reported intensitynot reported2.7
felt reportsnot reported1

On USGS

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