QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Walla Walla, WA

USGS: 23 km E of Dixie, Washington

7:30 am PDT, Mar 22, 2016 · · 10 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Walla Walla Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Columbia County 21 kmGarfield County 44 kmAsotin County 49 kmWalla Walla County 51 kmWallowa County 77 kmNez Perce County 88 kmUmatilla County 89 kmUnion County 90 kmWhitman County 93 km
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
7:30 am PDT on 22 March 2016 ()
Where
38 km (23 mi) E of Walla Walla, WA · earthquakes near Walla Walla
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Columbia County, 21 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

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

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 38 km (23 mi) E of Walla Walla, WA, at 7:30 am PDT on 22 March 2016 (14:30 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Dayton, Waitsburg.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 3 km SW of Garrett, Washington · 45 km W of this epicentre

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

Epicentre 46.1040, -117.8597. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Columbia County, WA 21 km (13 mi) N earthquakes near Columbia County
Garfield County, WA 44 km (27 mi) NE earthquakes near Garfield County
Asotin County, WA 49 km (31 mi) E earthquakes near Asotin County
Walla Walla County, WA 51 km (31 mi) WNW earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Wallowa County, OR 77 km (48 mi) SE earthquakes near Wallowa County
Nez Perce County, ID 88 km (55 mi) ENE earthquakes near Nez Perce County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 6 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  2. 2.1 5 km S of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  3. 1.6 5 km SW of Dayton, Washington
  4. 1.7 6 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  5. 1.6 11 km E of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  6. 1.7 11 km E of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  7. 1.7 6 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  8. 2.0 4 km ESE of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  9. 1.5 22 km NNE of Elgin, Oregon
  10. 1.6 7 km SW of Dayton, Washington
  11. 1.6 19 km SE of Walla Walla East, Washington
  12. 1.9 7 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  13. 1.7 7 km ENE of Waitsburg, Washington
  14. 1.8 7 km ENE of Waitsburg, Washington
  15. 1.9 5 km NE of Dixie, Washington

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

On USGS

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