QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

9 km SSW of Ellensburg, Washington

· -0.9 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kittitas County 25 kmYakima County 52 kmGrant County 90 kmChelan County 105 kmBenton County 111 kmDouglas County 114 kmKing County 115 kmKlickitat County 117 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
-0.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kittitas County, 25 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1633 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 8.4 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 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 46.9133, -120.5757. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kittitas County, WA 25 km (15 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Kittitas County
Yakima County, WA 52 km (33 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Yakima County
Grant County, WA 90 km (56 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Grant County
Chelan County, WA 105 km (66 mi) S of here earthquakes near Chelan County
Benton County, WA 111 km (69 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Benton County
Douglas County, WA 114 km (71 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 9 km SSW of Ellensburg, Washington
  2. 2.6 17 km SW of Nile, Washington
  3. 1.5 18 km SW of Nile, Washington
  4. 1.7 3 km ESE of Kittitas, Washington
  5. 1.6 2 km WNW of Summitview, Washington
  6. 2.1 11 km NNE of Selah, Washington
  7. 1.6 17 km SW of Nile, Washington
  8. 1.9 0 km SW of Selah, Washington
  9. 1.8 15 km SW of Thorp, Washington
  10. 1.9 1 km SSW of Selah, Washington
  11. 2.0 9 km S of Ellensburg, Washington
  12. 1.8 17 km SW of Nile, Washington
  13. 1.6 17 km SW of Nile, Washington
  14. 1.9 9 km S of Ellensburg, Washington
  15. 1.9 9 km S of Ellensburg, 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.