An earthquake recorded a 5.9 magnitude strikin off the Oregon coast Monday afternoon, making it the fifth earthquake to hit the area in under 24 hours.
The latest earthquake was reported to have hit at around 1:11 p.m., making it the biggest quake of the day.
A series of sizeable earthquakes struck off the coast of Oregon on Monday morning, but officials say no tsunamis were triggered.
Here is a list of the quakes since late Sunday night:
- 11:52 p.m. Sunday: 5.8M
- After midnight Monday: 4.3M
- 4:46 a.m. Monday: 5.5M
- 7:46 a.m. Monday: 4.4M
- 1:11 p.m. Monday: 5.9M
Paul Caruso, with the U.S. Geological Survey, says both quakes hit a fault that's west of the Oregon and Washington coast. They were about 330 miles west of Salem.
Caruso said the Oregon coast quakes were not big enough to trigger tsunamis. He says it usually takes a magnitude 7 for that to happen.
Both were about six miles deep, which is relatively shallow, Caruso said.
The deeper the quake, the less likely people will feel it.
For example, the magnitude 7.8 quake that recently struck Japan did little damage because it was 420 miles deep.
A USGS Seismologist tells KOIN that Monday's offshore quakes are not on the same fault line that will produce "the big one."
The "big one's" fault is much closer to the coast and two plates are struck, getting unstruck causes the big quake. Monday's quakes are on an unrelated fault farther our to sea.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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