QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

2 km WNW of Kapowsin, Washington

· -0.5 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pierce County 10 kmThurston County 45 kmLewis County 47 kmKing County 63 kmKitsap County 78 kmMason County 80 kmCowlitz County 95 kmSkamania County 110 kmWahkiakum County 119 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 1.7 (ml)
Depth
-0.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pierce County, 10 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 565 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 46.9957, -122.2488. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Pierce County, WA 10 km (6 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Pierce County
Thurston County, WA 45 km (28 mi) E of here earthquakes near Thurston County
Lewis County, WA 47 km (29 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Lewis County
King County, WA 63 km (39 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near King County
Kitsap County, WA 78 km (48 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Kitsap County
Mason County, WA 80 km (50 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Mason County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 8 km SSE of Mineral, Washington
  2. 1.9 Washington
  3. 1.6 1 km SSE of Kapowsin, Washington
  4. 1.5 2 km NNW of Federal Way, Washington
  5. 1.8 11 km ENE of Enumclaw, Washington
  6. 1.8 10 km WSW of Alder, Washington
  7. 1.5 23 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
  8. 1.8 5 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
  9. 2.7 5 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
  10. 2.1 5 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
  11. 2.7 16 km NE of Ashford, Washington
  12. 1.6 11 km ESE of Enumclaw, Washington
  13. 2.7 1 km NW of Maple Valley, Washington
  14. 2.5 15 km SSE of Ashford, Washington
  15. 1.6 18 km NNE of Ashford, 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.