The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 3.4 Earthquake at a depth of 7 km, in Lane County, Oregon, at about 6.00 pm local time on Wednesday 24 June 2015 (about 1.00 am on Thursday 25 June GMT). This is not a large quake, and no damage or injuries have been reported, but it was felt in Springfield and Eugene.
The approximate location of the 24 June 2015 Lane County Earthquake. Google Maps.
Oregon forms the southern part of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, along which the Juan De Fuca plate, which underlies part of the northeast Pacific, is being subducted beneath the western margin of the North American Plate. This is not a smooth process, and the two plates frequently stick together then break apart again as the pressure builds up, causing Earthquakes in the process. The heat and pressure within the Earth also slowly melts the subducting plate, liquifying more volatile minerals which then rise through the overlying North American Plate as magma, fueling the volcanoes of America's Pacific Northwest.
Subduction along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Kathleen Cantner/American Geosciences Institute/Earth Magazine.
Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organization Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.
See also...
A seismic monitoring system beneath the northeast Pacific operated by the Ocean Observatories Initiative has detected a probable eruption on Axial Seamount, a submarine volcano roughly 480 km off the coast of Oregon. The network has detected...
The Natural Resources Canada reported a Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake roughly 20 km off the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, at about...
The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 3.0 Earthquake at a depth of 27 km, 2 km to the north of Indianola, on Puget Sound opposite...
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