Earthquake monitors detected a sizable shake about 170 miles off the Oregon coast Wednesday near Bandon, but no tsunami is expected.
According to the United States Geological Survey, a 6.0 earthquake occurred at a depth of a little over 6 miles around 1:15 p.m. on the Blanco Fracture Zone on the edge of the Juan de Fuca plate.
“Four people reported feeling this earthquake via the USGS Did You Feel It? system,” said Andrew Michael, a USGS research geophysicist. “Whether they felt the earthquake or something else and attributed it to the earthquake is difficult to ascertain.”
According to Michael, the earthquake appeared to happen on the Blanco Fracture zone at the boundary of the Juan de Fuca and Pacific plates.
The area where Wednesday’s earthquake was detected is very active, Michael said. Within about 40 miles of that quake, there was a 6.2 earthquake on Aug. 29, 2019, a 6.0 on April 11, 2012 and a 6.3 on Jan. 10, 2008.
A release of tension along the Cascadia subduction zone on the Juan de Fuca plate is what is expected to cause the “big one,” a massive earthquake that could destabilize the entire Pacific Northwest. The location of Wednesday’s earthquake so far off shore, however, meant that it was rated a “green” by the USGS, with a very low risk to life or property.
“Because this event is a strike-slip earthquake with horizontal motion and is not that large, there is no reason to expect an observable tsunami or any impact on ocean waves,” Michael said.
Still, said Michael, “More activity is expected after every earthquake.”
- The Oregonian/OregonLive
