Earthquake near Prosser, WA

USGS: 1 km E of Prosser, Washington

36 km (23 mi) WSW of Richland, WA

3:32 pm PST, Jan 13, 2016 · 2016-01-13 23:32 UTC · -0.5 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Prosser Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.

When: 3:32 pm PST on 13 January 2016 (2016-01-13 23:32 UTC)
Where: in Prosser, WA · earthquakes near Prosser
Magnitude: M 1.8 (ml)
Depth: -0.5 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Benton County, 18 km E
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 558 days ago · we first saw it 558 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in Prosser, WA, at 3:32 pm PST on 13 January 2016 (23:32 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Grandview, Mabton, Benton City, Sunnyside.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Benton County, WA	18 km (11 mi)	E	earthquakes near Benton County
Franklin County, WA	75 km (47 mi)	ENE	earthquakes near Franklin County
Yakima County, WA	81 km (50 mi)	WNW	earthquakes near Yakima County
Morrow County, OR	87 km (54 mi)	S	earthquakes near Morrow County
Klickitat County, WA	88 km (54 mi)	WSW	earthquakes near Klickitat County
Walla Walla County, WA	98 km (61 mi)	E	earthquakes near Walla Walla County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

1.6 17 km N of West Richland, Washington 11:20 UTC
1.5 11 km N of Irrigon, Oregon 18:12 UTC
1.6 11 km SSE of Benton City, Washington 20:56 UTC
1.8 5 km WNW of Benton City, Washington 16:54 UTC
1.7 4 km WNW of Benton City, Washington 18:30 UTC
1.5 28 km ESE of Desert Aire, Washington 08:35 UTC
1.6 5 km WSW of West Richland, Washington 21:40 UTC
1.7 Washington 22:20 UTC
1.8 11 km SSE of Desert Aire, Washington 05:06 UTC
1.8 2 km E of Umatilla, Oregon 22:40 UTC
1.9 3 km SE of Umatilla, Oregon 21:48 UTC
2.3 13 km N of Richland, Washington 08:09 UTC
1.9 13 km N of Richland, Washington 04:27 UTC
1.7 Washington 18:40 UTC
1.8 11 km SW of Kennewick, Washington 20:06 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:08 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.