QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

13 km SW of Ellensburg, Washington

· 8.9 km deep · released about 6.2 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kittitas County 25 kmYakima County 50 kmGrant County 97 kmChelan County 107 kmKing County 110 kmPierce County 114 kmKlickitat County 115 kmBenton County 115 kmDouglas 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 1.5 (ml)
Depth
8.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kittitas County, 25 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1026 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 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 46.9005, -120.6657. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kittitas County, WA 25 km (15 mi) S of here earthquakes near Kittitas County
Yakima County, WA 50 km (31 mi) N of here earthquakes near Yakima County
Grant County, WA 97 km (60 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Grant County
Chelan County, WA 107 km (66 mi) S of here earthquakes near Chelan County
King County, WA 110 km (68 mi) SE of here earthquakes near King County
Pierce County, WA 114 km (71 mi) E of here earthquakes near Pierce County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 11 km N of Selah, Washington
  2. 1.5 11 km N of Selah, Washington
  3. 1.6 17 km SSW of Nile, Washington
  4. 1.6 12 km NW of Thorp, Washington
  5. 2.3 17 km SW of Nile, Washington
  6. 1.8 9 km SSW of Ellensburg, Washington
  7. 2.6 17 km SW of Nile, Washington
  8. 1.5 18 km SW of Nile, Washington
  9. 1.7 3 km ESE of Kittitas, Washington
  10. 1.6 2 km WNW of Summitview, Washington
  11. 2.8 13 km NW of Cliffdell, Washington
  12. 2.1 11 km NNE of Selah, Washington
  13. 1.6 17 km SW of Nile, Washington
  14. 2.0 17 km WSW of Nile, Washington
  15. 1.9 0 km SW of Selah, 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.