Portland

Earthquakes near Portland, 1927–2026

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 6 or more within 60 mi of Portland from 1927 to October 19, 2026. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 2 within 60 mi of Portland in these years.

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 60 mi of Portland in the last 30 days.

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What the record holds

The strongest was a magnitude 5.6 on March 25, 1993. The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 5.2 on May 18, 1980 (Mt St Helens), for which NOAA records 61 deaths. NOAA records deaths in 4 of the events here, 64 in all. NOAA lists 2 tsunamis that began within 60 mi of Portland, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 250 m, on May 18, 1980. The deadliest, on January 30, 1965, killed one person here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 3 significant eruptions of 2 volcanoes within 60 mi of Portland. The largest was St. Helens on May 18, 1980, at 5 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 61 people by NOAA’s count.

The events

  • March 25, 1993Earthquake · M 5.6NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 18, 1980Earthquake · M 5.2Mt St Helens · 61 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
  • May 18, 1980Tsunami · 250 m hereWashingtonNOAA NCEI
  • May 18, 1980Eruption · VEI 5St. Helens · 61 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • January 30, 1965TsunamiColumbia River Valley, Wa · one death here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Portland when it began within 60 mi of its centre, or 120 mi for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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