QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Walla Walla, WA

USGS: 5 km SSE of Touchet, Washington

47 km (29 mi) ESE of Kennewick, WA

10:19 pm PST, Feb 11, 2022 · · 8.0 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Walla Walla County 31 kmUmatilla County 45 kmFranklin County 64 kmColumbia County 65 kmBenton County 72 kmUnion County 92 kmMorrow County 98 kmGarfield County 98 kmAsotin County 111 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
10:19 pm PST on 11 February 2022 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) WSW of Walla Walla, WA · earthquakes near Walla Walla
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
8.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Walla Walla County, 31 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Wallula fault system, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 571 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) WSW of Walla Walla, WA, at 10:19 pm PST on 11 February 2022 (06:19 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Garrett, College Place, Milton-Freewater, Athena, Walla Walla East.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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:

  1. 6.0 3 km SW of Garrett, Washington · 17 km ENE 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 45.9950, -118.6427. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Walla Walla County, WA 31 km (20 mi) NNE earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Umatilla County, OR 45 km (28 mi) S earthquakes near Umatilla County
Franklin County, WA 64 km (40 mi) NNW earthquakes near Franklin County
Columbia County, WA 65 km (41 mi) ENE earthquakes near Columbia County
Benton County, WA 72 km (45 mi) WNW earthquakes near Benton County
Union County, OR 92 km (57 mi) SSE earthquakes near Union County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 3 km W of Pendleton, Oregon
  2. 1.7 12 km NE of Hermiston, Oregon
  3. 1.5 14 km NE of Hermiston, Oregon
  4. 1.8 4 km SSW of Wallula, Washington
  5. 2.1 2 km N of Highland, Washington
  6. 2.1 5 km S of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  7. 1.7 12 km ENE of Hermiston, Oregon
  8. 2.0 10 km W of Pendleton, Oregon
  9. 2.3 7 km N of Helix, Oregon
  10. 1.7 8 km N of Helix, Oregon
  11. 1.9 9 km WNW of Touchet, Washington
  12. 1.8 4 km NNW of Pendleton, Oregon
  13. 1.6 11 km E of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  14. 1.7 11 km E of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  15. 1.7 1 km WNW of Highland, 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.