QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9md

8 km NNE of Airway Heights, Washington

· -0.7 km deep · released about 750 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Spokane County 14 kmKootenai County 63 kmLincoln County 67 kmStevens County 79 kmBenewah County 87 kmWhitman County 89 kmPend Oreille County 96 kmBonner County 96 kmAdams County 107 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 2.9 (md)
Depth
-0.7 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Spokane County, 14 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1442 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 750 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 20,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 750 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 47.7090, -117.5392. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Spokane County, WA 14 km (9 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Spokane County
Kootenai County, ID 63 km (39 mi) W of here earthquakes near Kootenai County
Lincoln County, WA 67 km (42 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Lincoln County
Stevens County, WA 79 km (49 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Stevens County
Benewah County, ID 87 km (54 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Benewah County
Whitman County, WA 89 km (55 mi) N of here earthquakes near Whitman County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 2 km NE of Fairwood, Washington
  2. 2.2 2 km NW of Mead, Washington
  3. 2.3 8 km NE of Sprague, Washington
  4. 1.7 6 km SE of Spangle, Washington
  5. 2.5 8 km ENE of Sprague, Washington
  6. 1.6 3 km ESE of Veradale, Washington
  7. 1.7 4 km SSW of Liberty Lake, Washington
  8. 1.6 13 km SSE of Liberty Lake, Washington
  9. 1.9 12 km N of Reardan, Washington
  10. 1.8 2 km NNE of Fairwood, Washington
  11. 2.3 2 km NNE of Fairwood, Washington
  12. 1.8 20 km NE of Deer Park, Washington
  13. 2.4 9 km NE of Sprague, Washington
  14. 2.1 9 km NNW of Airway Heights, Washington
  15. 1.7 7 km NE of Sprague, 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.