QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

8 km NE of Sunnyside, Washington

· -0.5 km deep · released about 5.9 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Benton County 36 kmYakima County 62 kmFranklin County 81 kmKlickitat County 86 kmGrant County 99 kmKittitas County 100 kmMorrow County 109 kmWalla Walla County 113 kmGilliam County 114 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
-0.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Benton County, 36 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 706 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 5.9 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 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 46.3797, -119.9355. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Benton County, WA 36 km (23 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Benton County
Yakima County, WA 62 km (39 mi) E of here earthquakes near Yakima County
Franklin County, WA 81 km (50 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Klickitat County, WA 86 km (54 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Klickitat County
Grant County, WA 99 km (62 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Grant County
Kittitas County, WA 100 km (62 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Kittitas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 20 km SW of Desert Aire, Washington
  2. 1.8 3 km SSW of West Richland, Washington
  3. 2.8 5 km ESE of Benton City, Washington
  4. 1.7 24 km E of Desert Aire, Washington
  5. 1.6 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  6. 2.3 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  7. 1.9 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  8. 1.6 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  9. 1.6 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  10. 2.4 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  11. 1.6 10 km ENE of Prosser, Washington
  12. 1.9 12 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  13. 1.6 12 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  14. 1.8 12 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
  15. 1.7 12 km SE of Desert Aire, 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.