QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

4 km NW of Hermiston, Oregon

· -0.3 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Benton County 42 kmMorrow County 53 kmUmatilla County 56 kmWalla Walla County 79 kmFranklin County 82 kmGilliam County 91 kmKlickitat County 112 kmSherman County 116 kmColumbia County 120 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 1.8 (ml)
Depth
-0.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Benton County, 42 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1656 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 16 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 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 45.8665, -119.3385. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Benton County, WA 42 km (26 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Benton County
Morrow County, OR 53 km (33 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Morrow County
Umatilla County, OR 56 km (35 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Umatilla County
Walla Walla County, WA 79 km (49 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Franklin County, WA 82 km (51 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Gilliam County, OR 91 km (56 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Gilliam County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 1 km WNW of Highland, Washington
  2. 2.0 2 km WSW of Burbank, Washington
  3. 1.8 4 km SSE of Kennewick, Washington
  4. 2.3 4 km SSW of West Richland, Washington
  5. 1.6 4 km S of Echo, Oregon
  6. 1.7 10 km SSW of Tri-Cities, Washington
  7. 2.0 4 km SE of Umatilla, Oregon
  8. 1.6 10 km ENE of Prosser, Washington
  9. 1.6 10 km ENE of Lexington, Oregon
  10. 1.7 6 km E of Wallula, Washington
  11. 2.2 4 km SE of Benton City, Washington
  12. 1.8 3 km N of Highland, Washington
  13. 1.6 6 km W of Highland, Washington
  14. 1.7 9 km ESE of Echo, Oregon
  15. 1.8 4 km SSW of West Richland, 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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