QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Chelan, WA

USGS: 8 km WSW of Chelan Falls, Washington

4:36 am PDT, Mar 17, 2021 · · 2.6 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Chelan Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Douglas County 30 kmChelan County 41 kmGrant County 78 kmKittitas County 85 kmOkanogan County 90 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
4:36 am PDT on 17 March 2021 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) SW of Chelan, WA · earthquakes near Chelan
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
2.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Douglas County, 30 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2020 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) SW of Chelan, WA, at 4:36 am PDT on 17 March 2021 (11:36 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Manson, Entiat, Waterville.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 47.7747, -120.0883. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Douglas County, WA 30 km (18 mi) E earthquakes near Douglas County
Chelan County, WA 41 km (25 mi) WNW earthquakes near Chelan County
Grant County, WA 78 km (48 mi) SE earthquakes near Grant County
Kittitas County, WA 85 km (53 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kittitas County
Okanogan County, WA 90 km (56 mi) NNE earthquakes near Okanogan County
Ferry County, WA 139 km (86 mi) NE earthquakes near Ferry 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.

  1. 0.9 5 km ENE of Entiat, Washington
  2. 2.3 4 km NW of Waterville, Washington
  3. 1.7 7 km WSW of Chelan, Washington
  4. 1.6 12 km W of Entiat, Washington
  5. 1.9 10 km SSW of Granite Falls, Washington
  6. 1.7 23 km NW of Granite Falls, Washington
  7. 1.5 7 km SSE of Chelan Falls, Washington
  8. 1.8 12 km WNW of Mansfield, Washington
  9. 1.6 13 km E of Waterville, Washington
  10. 1.8 7 km W of Entiat, Washington
  11. 2.5 4 km NW of Waterville, Washington
  12. 1.6 15 km WSW of Methow, Washington
  13. 2.4 5 km SSW of Chelan Falls, Washington
  14. 1.8 2 km NNE of Entiat, Washington
  15. 2.6 10 km WNW of Entiat, 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.