QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Dayton, WA

USGS: 4 km SSE of Dayton, Washington

11:57 am PST, Feb 18, 2022 · · -0.4 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Columbia County 3 kmGarfield County 36 kmWalla Walla County 41 kmAsotin County 57 kmWhitman County 76 kmFranklin County 78 kmAdams County 92 kmNez Perce County 92 kmWallowa County 97 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
11:57 am PST on 18 February 2022 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) SSE of Dayton, WA · earthquakes near Dayton
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
-0.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Columbia County, 3 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1685 days ago

A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) SSE of Dayton, WA, at 11:57 am PST on 18 February 2022 (19:57 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Waitsburg.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 19 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 790,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 560,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 50× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 · 46 km SW 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 46.2838, -117.9523. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Columbia County, WA 3 km (2 mi) ENE earthquakes near Columbia County
Garfield County, WA 36 km (22 mi) ENE earthquakes near Garfield County
Walla Walla County, WA 41 km (25 mi) W earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Asotin County, WA 57 km (35 mi) E earthquakes near Asotin County
Whitman County, WA 76 km (47 mi) NNE earthquakes near Whitman County
Franklin County, WA 78 km (49 mi) WNW earthquakes near Franklin County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 6 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  2. 1.7 15 km NW of Pomeroy, Washington
  3. 1.6 5 km SW of Dayton, Washington
  4. 1.8 14 km E of Pomeroy, Washington
  5. 1.7 6 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  6. 1.6 11 km E of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  7. 1.7 11 km E of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  8. 2.0 16 km WNW of Pomeroy, Washington
  9. 1.7 6 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  10. 2.0 4 km ESE of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  11. 1.6 7 km SW of Dayton, Washington
  12. 1.6 19 km SE of Walla Walla East, Washington
  13. 1.9 7 km WSW of Dayton, Washington
  14. 1.7 7 km ENE of Waitsburg, Washington
  15. 1.8 7 km ENE of Waitsburg, 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.