QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near Yakima, WA

USGS: 2 km NNW of Yakima, Washington

in Yakima, WA

5:11 pm PDT, Jul 13, 2018 · · 15 km deep · released about 250 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yakima Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yakima County 25 kmKittitas County 57 kmKlickitat County 86 kmBenton County 89 kmGrant County 104 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
5:11 pm PDT on 13 July 2018 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) NNW of Yakima, WA · earthquakes near Yakima
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity II (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Yakima County, 25 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2922 days ago

A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) NNW of Yakima, WA, at 5:11 pm PDT on 13 July 2018 (00:11 UTC). This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Selah, Terrace Heights, West Valley, Gleed, Union Gap, Ahtanum.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 250 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 61,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 43,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 250 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 46.6238, -120.5247. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yakima County, WA 25 km (15 mi) SW earthquakes near Yakima County
Kittitas County, WA 57 km (35 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kittitas County
Klickitat County, WA 86 km (53 mi) SSW earthquakes near Klickitat County
Benton County, WA 89 km (55 mi) ESE earthquakes near Benton County
Grant County, WA 104 km (64 mi) NE earthquakes near Grant County
Skamania County, WA 128 km (80 mi) WSW earthquakes near Skamania County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 5 km S of Ellensburg, Washington
  2. 1.9 7 km S of Ellensburg, Washington
  3. 1.8 8 km S of Ellensburg, Washington
  4. 1.7 2 km S of Selah, Washington
  5. 1.8 10 km NW of Tampico, Washington
  6. 2.4 17 km SW of Nile, Washington
  7. 1.6 Washington
  8. 1.7 7 km ESE of Kittitas, Washington
  9. 1.6 4 km WNW of Summitview, Washington
  10. 1.7 1 km N of Tieton, Washington
  11. 1.9 Washington
  12. 1.6 2 km ENE of Selah, Washington
  13. 1.6 16 km SSW of Harrah, Washington
  14. 2.1 12 km SW of Nile, Washington
  15. 1.6 10 km SW of Nile, 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.