More than 50 earthquakes rumble off Oregon coast over 24-hour period
Over 50 earthquakes, ranging from 3.5 to 5.8 in magnitude, were reported off the Oregon coast in a 24-hour period.
The cluster of quakes began Tuesday and continued through Wednesday, about 200 to 250 miles off the Oregon coast, according to a tweet from the National Weather Service of Portland.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there have been a total of 56 in the area, according to the United States Geological Survey database.
Of those, eight earthquakes had a 5.5 magnitude or higher, a scale that could cause slight damage to buildings and other structures if they were closer.
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Dave Snider, the tsunami warning coordinator for the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center, told USA TODAY the earthquakes are far enough offshore that many won't detect anything on land.
"We've seen this before, and there's history in this region," Snider said. "It's an active area and not necessarily unusual."
He said at this time there is no information pointing to a larger event on the horizon and there are currently no tsunami warnings.
For the 7th time in the last 16 hours...tsunami not expected with earthquake off the southern Oregon coast. #wawx https://t.co/aKtXsoBRAZ
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) December 8, 2021
Notifications sent out for each earthquake event combined with the volcanic eruption in Indonesia have heightened awareness around seismic conditions and created a buzz, according to Snider.
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"We are happy people are paying attention and learning about their risk," he said. "People are learning how to get notifications if something does occur."
For now, anything above a 4.5 magnitude is being looked at, but real concern will arise if an earthquake magnitude passes 7.0.
"The earth is a moving machine and this is an interesting way to experience it," Snider said.
Follow reporter Asha Gilbert @Coastalasha. Email: agilbert@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Multiple earthquakes reported off Oregon Coast in the last day
