QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Lewiston, ID

USGS: 7 km ESE of Uniontown, Washington

2:08 pm PST, Dec 13, 2023 · · -0.7 km deep · released about 9.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lewiston Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Nez Perce County 27 kmAsotin County 40 kmLatah County 40 kmGarfield County 42 kmLewis County 54 kmWhitman County 60 kmColumbia County 73 kmBenewah County 84 kmWallowa County 103 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
2:08 pm PST on 13 December 2023 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) N of Lewiston, ID · earthquakes near Lewiston
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
-0.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Nez Perce County, 27 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1024 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) N of Lewiston, ID, at 2:08 pm PST on 13 December 2023 (22:08 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Clarkston, West Clarkston-Highland, Lewiston Orchards, Clarkston Heights-Vineland, Asotin, Lapwai.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.3 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 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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.

For this area

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 46.5082, -117.0065. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Nez Perce County, ID 27 km (17 mi) SE earthquakes near Nez Perce County
Asotin County, WA 40 km (25 mi) SSW earthquakes near Asotin County
Latah County, ID 40 km (25 mi) NNE earthquakes near Latah County
Garfield County, WA 42 km (26 mi) WSW earthquakes near Garfield County
Lewis County, ID 54 km (34 mi) SE earthquakes near Lewis County
Whitman County, WA 60 km (37 mi) NW earthquakes near Whitman County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 1 km NW of Asotin, Washington
  2. 2.1 5 km ENE of Pullman, Washington
  3. 2.3 9 km ESE of Princeton, Idaho
  4. 1.7 4 km E of Uniontown, Washington
  5. 2.3 4 km ENE of Pullman, Washington
  6. 2.3 5 km SSW of Moscow, Idaho
  7. 1.7 6 km WSW of Troy, Idaho
  8. 1.6 8 km SSE of Pullman, Washington
  9. 2.1 2 km SSE of Lewiston Orchards, Idaho
  10. 2.2 8 km SW of Potlatch, Idaho
  11. 2.2 2 km NE of Lewiston Orchards, Idaho
  12. 1.8 14 km E of Pomeroy, Washington
  13. 1.6 10 km ESE of Moscow, Idaho
  14. 1.9 7 km WSW of Deary, Idaho
  15. 1.9 7 km ENE of Troy, Idaho

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.