explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Cle Elum, WA
USGS: 11 km WSW of Cliffdell, Washington
- When
- 12:06 pm PDT on 6 April 2016 ()
- Where
- 39 km (24 mi) SSW of Cle Elum, WA · earthquakes near Cle Elum
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kittitas County, 47 km ENE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 558 days ago
A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) SSW of Cle Elum, WA, at 12:06 pm PDT on 6 April 2016 (19:06 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 23 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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:
- 5.0 23 km ESE of Packwood, Washington · 44 km SSW 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 46.8995, -121.2045. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kittitas County, WA | 47 km (29 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Kittitas County |
| Yakima County, WA | 61 km (38 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Yakima County |
| Pierce County, WA | 74 km (46 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| King County, WA | 81 km (50 mi) | NW | earthquakes near King County |
| Lewis County, WA | 96 km (60 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Lewis County |
| Skamania County, WA | 113 km (70 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Skamania County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 8 km ESE of Nile, Washington
- 1.6 23 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
- 1.6 21 km ESE of Packwood, Washington
- 2.0 5 km S of Nile, Washington
- 1.6 16 km SW of Ellensburg, Washington
- 2.0 15 km SW of Nile, Washington
- 2.7 16 km SW of Nile, Washington
- 1.6 13 km S of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
- 1.9 1 km N of Cowiche, Washington
- 1.8 14 km S of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
- 1.8 10 km S of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
- 1.6 14 km S of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
- 1.8 11 km N of Packwood, Washington
- 1.8 8 km NE of Tampico, Washington
- 1.8 20 km ESE of Packwood, 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
- 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.