M6.2 earthquake 149 km W of Port Orford, Oregon

Saturday, May 28, 1938, 10:14:03 UTC · 42.659°N, 126.313°W

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 149 km W of Port Orford, Oregon on Saturday, May 28, 1938, 10:14:03 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on September 25, 1936.

Magnitude: 6.2; Strong · mw
Depth: 10 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: —; No ShakeMap
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquake

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

33 kilotons of TNT

That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 70 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

40 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Juan de Fuca plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

10 km

Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.

Did You Feel It?

Where it was felt

No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.

After the main event

Aftershocks within 100 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 38 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1932M6.5
Eureka
6 Jun 1932 · 273 km away · intensity VIII
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
1700M9.0
Cascadia Subduction Zone
27 Jan 1700 · 281 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1865
Fort Humboldt, Eureka
1 Oct 1865 · 238 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1922M7.6
Northern
31 Jan 1922 · 196 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
1923M7.1
Northern
22 Jan 1923 · 264 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1873M6.7
Northern
23 Nov 1873 · 204 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers