QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Desert Aire, WA

USGS: 29 km ESE of Desert Aire, Washington

36 km (23 mi) NW of Richland, WA

4:37 pm PDT, Jun 9, 2020 · · 16 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Desert Aire Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Benton County 35 kmFranklin County 52 kmGrant County 75 kmYakima County 89 kmWalla Walla County 91 kmAdams County 97 kmKittitas County 105 kmKlickitat County 118 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
4:37 pm PDT on 9 June 2020 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) ESE of Desert Aire, WA · earthquakes near Desert Aire
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Benton County, 35 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2306 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) ESE of Desert Aire, WA, at 4:37 pm PDT on 9 June 2020 (23:37 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 46.5425, -119.5887. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Benton County, WA 35 km (22 mi) S earthquakes near Benton County
Franklin County, WA 52 km (33 mi) E earthquakes near Franklin County
Grant County, WA 75 km (47 mi) N earthquakes near Grant County
Yakima County, WA 89 km (55 mi) W earthquakes near Yakima County
Walla Walla County, WA 91 km (56 mi) ESE earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Adams County, WA 97 km (60 mi) ENE earthquakes near Adams County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 4 km S of Richland, Washington
  2. 1.7 4 km SSW of West Richland, Washington
  3. 1.7 5 km ENE of Prosser, Washington
  4. 1.6 4 km ENE of Prosser, Washington
  5. 1.6 8 km SSW of Prosser, Washington
  6. 1.5 8 km NE of Sunnyside, Washington
  7. 1.6 10 km ENE of Prosser, Washington
  8. 2.1 4 km SE of Benton City, Washington
  9. 1.6 Washington
  10. 1.5 9 km SSW of Tri-Cities, Washington
  11. 2.5 9 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  12. 1.7 10 km SW of Benton City, Washington
  13. 2.1 Washington
  14. 1.5 9 km WSW of Benton City, Washington
  15. 1.6 11 km ENE of Mattawa, 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.