Reviewed by USGSOregon32y ago
M4.6 earthquake 230 km W of Bandon, Oregon
Tuesday, November 22, 1994, 21:23:30 UTC · 43.550°N, 127.187°W
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 230 km W of Bandon, Oregon on Tuesday, November 22, 1994, 21:23:30 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on October 27, 1994.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- Light · mb
- 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
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
28 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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 146 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.4123 km W of Big Lagoon, CaliforniaJanuary 31, 1922 · 293 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0136 km WSW of Brookings, OregonAugust 17, 1991 · 235 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.9103 km W of Pistol River, OregonJuly 13, 1991 · 198 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.8off the coast of Northern CaliforniaJuly 6, 1934 · 298 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.5259 km W of Bandon, OregonMarch 13, 1985 · 30 km W of this epicenter
- 6.5235 km W of Port Orford, OregonAugust 5, 1910 · 89 km S of this epicenter
- 6.4213 km W of Port Orford, OregonAugust 20, 1952 · 76 km S of this epicenter
- 6.4169 km W of Crescent City, CaliforniaMarch 24, 1949 · 236 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1700M9.0
Cascadia Subduction Zone
27 Jan 1700 · 237 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.