QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

2 km SW of Touchet, Washington

· 15 km deep · released about 47 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Walla Walla County 30 kmUmatilla County 49 kmFranklin County 59 kmBenton County 67 kmColumbia County 67 kmMorrow County 97 kmUnion County 97 kmGarfield County 100 kmAdams County 110 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 2.1 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Walla Walla County, 30 km NNE
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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 47 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 320,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 20× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 47 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 46.0270, -118.6978. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Walla Walla County, WA 30 km (19 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Umatilla County, OR 49 km (30 mi) N of here earthquakes near Umatilla County
Franklin County, WA 59 km (37 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Benton County, WA 67 km (42 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Benton County
Columbia County, WA 67 km (42 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Columbia County
Morrow County, OR 97 km (60 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Morrow County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 3 km W of Pendleton, Oregon
  2. 1.7 12 km NE of Hermiston, Oregon
  3. 1.5 14 km NE of Hermiston, Oregon
  4. 1.8 4 km SSW of Wallula, Washington
  5. 2.1 2 km N of Highland, Washington
  6. 2.1 5 km S of Milton-Freewater, Oregon
  7. 1.7 12 km ENE of Hermiston, Oregon
  8. 2.0 7 km WNW of Highland, Washington
  9. 2.0 10 km W of Pendleton, Oregon
  10. 2.3 7 km N of Helix, Oregon
  11. 1.7 8 km N of Helix, Oregon
  12. 1.7 10 km SW of Kennewick, Washington
  13. 1.9 9 km WNW of Touchet, Washington
  14. 1.8 4 km NNW of Pendleton, Oregon
  15. 1.6 11 km E of Milton-Freewater, Oregon

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.