QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

4 km SSW of West Richland, Washington

· -0.3 km deep · released about 74 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Benton County 11 kmFranklin County 48 kmWalla Walla County 70 kmUmatilla County 90 kmMorrow County 95 kmGrant County 106 kmYakima County 106 kmAdams County 107 kmColumbia County 113 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
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
-0.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Benton County, 11 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1713 days ago

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 74 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 13× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 74 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.

Where

Epicentre 46.2642, -119.3875. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Benton County, WA 11 km (7 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Benton County
Franklin County, WA 48 km (30 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Walla Walla County, WA 70 km (43 mi) W of here earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Umatilla County, OR 90 km (56 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Umatilla County
Morrow County, OR 95 km (59 mi) N of here earthquakes near Morrow County
Grant County, WA 106 km (66 mi) S of here earthquakes near Grant 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. 1.6 4 km ENE of Prosser, Washington
  2. 1.6 8 km SSW of Prosser, Washington
  3. 1.7 15 km S of Mesa, Washington
  4. 1.5 8 km NE of Sunnyside, Washington
  5. 1.6 3 km ESE of Umatilla, Oregon
  6. 1.6 10 km ENE of Prosser, Washington
  7. 1.9 2 km NNW of Highland, Washington
  8. 2.1 4 km SE of Benton City, Washington
  9. 1.7 6 km SW of Highland, Washington
  10. 2.1 2 km SE of Umatilla, Oregon
  11. 1.9 4 km E of Umatilla, Oregon
  12. 1.6 17 km SE of Prosser, Washington
  13. 1.5 9 km SSW of Tri-Cities, Washington
  14. 1.6 8 km SW of Highland, Washington
  15. 1.7 10 km SW of Benton City, 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

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