6.2-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Miles Off Oregon Coast

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck about 170 miles off the coast of south-central Oregon near the border with California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake hit at around 1:30 a.m. local time on Aug. 22 at a depth of about 6 miles. The quake was centered 171 miles west of Coos Bay and 220 miles southwest of Portland, the agency said.

A tsunami warning was not issued after the quake.

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck about 170 miles off the coast of south-central Oregon near the border with California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (USGS)

Robert Sanders of the USGS told CBS News that people in Portland said they could feel the quake when it hit.

About two hours after that quake struck, an aftershock with a magnitude of 3.5 hit, CBS reported.

A fault line known as the Cascadia Subduction Zone is located off the coast of the Pacific Northwest.

More Earthquakes

In late July, an “earthquake swarm,” or a series of earthquakes that strike around the same area at around the same time, was recorded off the Oregon-California coast. The first quake hit at 5:16 a.m. local time. Between 7:28 a.m. and 7:44 a.m., four more earthquakes struck, according to the USGS. Of those five tremors, the largest registered as 5.6 on the Richter scale, The Epoch Times previously reported. More quakes struck several hours later.

Those quakes were located around 120 miles from the Gold Beach, Oregon, the agency said.

Don Blakeman, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center, told OregonLive that strength of the undersea earthquakes hasn’t yet been serious, adding that these can occur fairly often. Tsunamis are not likely until at least a 7-magnitude earthquake is recorded, he said.

The West Coast of the United States is located along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismically active region that encircles the Pacific Ocean. About 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes are registered in the region.

On Aug. 18. an 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean near Tonga and Fiji. It was too deep to cause any damage, Reuters reported.

The quake was 347.7 miles below the Earth, which would have dampened the shaking at the surface. “I would not expect any damage. People will feel it but it’s so deep that I would not expect any damage,” USGS geophysicist Jana Pursley said, Reuters reported. The epicenter was located 167 miles east of Levuka in Fiji and 275 miles west of Neiafu in Tonga. And a tsunami warning was not issued due to the quake’s depth.

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In 1993, the Scotts Mills earthquake, a 5.6 on the Richter scale, shook the Portland metropolitan area. There were reports of damage done to buildings, and several people were treated for injuries at hospitals. A similar-sized earthquake hit Portland in 1877, and a 5.5 quake hit in 1962.

In 2001, a 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Puget Sound northeast of Olympia and south of Seattle, causing at least $1 billion in damage and killing one person. Several hundred people were injured. The quake was felt in Oregon, Canada, Idaho, and in eastern Washington.

Reuters contributed to this report.