Reviewed by USGSOregon18y ago
M2.9 earthquake 201 km W of Port Orford, Oregon
Thursday, January 17, 2008, 06:25:40 UTC · 42.924°N, 126.956°W
A magnitude 2.9 earthquake struck 201 km W of Port Orford, Oregon on Thursday, January 17, 2008, 06:25:40 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 2.9
- Minor · ml
- 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
338 kg of TNT
That is about 1/44,601 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1,413 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
20 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 232 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 · 223 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2153 km W of Big Lagoon, CaliforniaJune 15, 2005 · 199 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.1121 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaSeptember 1, 1994 · 300 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0136 km WSW of Brookings, OregonAugust 17, 1991 · 165 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.9103 km W of Pistol River, OregonJuly 13, 1991 · 136 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.8123 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaNovember 25, 1954 · 294 km S of this epicenter
- 6.884 km W of Ferndale, CaliforniaFebruary 9, 1941 · 289 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.8off the coast of Northern CaliforniaJuly 6, 1934 · 228 km SE of this epicenter
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. The most severe:
- 1700M9.0
Cascadia Subduction Zone
27 Jan 1700 · 279 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1980M7.2
North Coast
8 Nov 1980 · 300 km away · intensity VII
$2 million damage
- 1865
Fort Humboldt, Eureka
1 Oct 1865 · 295 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1922M7.6
Northern
31 Jan 1922 · 245 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1994M7.0
North: Honeydew
1 Sep 1994 · 300 km away · intensity VI
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1873M6.7
Northern
23 Nov 1873 · 263 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.