QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Dayton, WA

USGS: 9 km NNW of Starbuck, Washington

1:35 pm PDT, Apr 1, 2016 · · -0.2 km deep · released about 5.9 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Dayton Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Columbia County 39 kmWalla Walla County 45 kmGarfield County 52 kmAdams County 53 kmFranklin County 57 kmWhitman County 59 kmAsotin County 86 kmLincoln County 111 kmBenton County 111 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
1:35 pm PDT on 1 April 2016 ()
Where
34 km (21 mi) NNW of Dayton, WA · earthquakes near Dayton
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Columbia County, 39 km SSE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 559 days ago

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) NNW of Dayton, WA, at 1:35 pm PDT on 1 April 2016 (20:35 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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

Epicentre 46.6005, -118.1682. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Columbia County, WA 39 km (25 mi) SSE earthquakes near Columbia County
Walla Walla County, WA 45 km (28 mi) SSW earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Garfield County, WA 52 km (32 mi) ESE earthquakes near Garfield County
Adams County, WA 53 km (33 mi) NNW earthquakes near Adams County
Franklin County, WA 57 km (35 mi) W earthquakes near Franklin County
Whitman County, WA 59 km (37 mi) NE earthquakes near Whitman County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 6 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  2. 1.7 15 km NW of Pomeroy, Washington
  3. 1.6 5 km SW of Dayton, Washington
  4. 1.7 6 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  5. 2.0 16 km WNW of Pomeroy, Washington
  6. 1.7 6 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  7. 1.6 7 km SW of Dayton, Washington
  8. 1.9 7 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  9. 1.7 7 km ENE of Waitsburg, Washington
  10. 1.8 7 km ENE of Waitsburg, Washington
  11. 1.9 5 km NE of Dixie, Washington
  12. 1.8 5 km E of Waitsburg, Washington
  13. 1.6 7 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  14. 1.9 7 km ENE of Waitsburg, Washington
  15. 1.8 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.