QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

4 km ENE of Prosser, Washington

· -0.4 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Benton County 16 kmFranklin County 72 kmYakima County 82 kmMorrow County 89 kmKlickitat County 91 kmWalla Walla County 95 kmGilliam County 103 kmUmatilla County 104 kmGrant County 112 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
-0.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Benton County, 16 km E
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 956 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 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 46.2255, -119.7212. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Benton County, WA 16 km (10 mi) W of here earthquakes near Benton County
Franklin County, WA 72 km (45 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Yakima County, WA 82 km (51 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Yakima County
Morrow County, OR 89 km (56 mi) N of here earthquakes near Morrow County
Klickitat County, WA 91 km (56 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Klickitat County
Walla Walla County, WA 95 km (59 mi) W of here earthquakes near Walla Walla County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 11 km W of Highland, Washington
  2. 2.0 20 km SW of Desert Aire, Washington
  3. 1.7 4 km ESE of Umatilla, Oregon
  4. 1.8 11 km W of Highland, Washington
  5. 2.0 7 km WNW of Highland, Washington
  6. 1.8 3 km SSW of West Richland, Washington
  7. 1.8 11 km SSW of Tri-Cities, Washington
  8. 2.8 5 km ESE of Benton City, Washington
  9. 2.0 4 km ESE of Umatilla, Oregon
  10. 1.9 4 km ESE of Umatilla, Oregon
  11. 1.7 24 km E of Desert Aire, Washington
  12. 1.7 10 km SW of Kennewick, Washington
  13. 2.0 3 km E of Umatilla, Oregon
  14. 1.5 17 km NNE of Roosevelt, Washington
  15. 1.6 9 km WNW of Highland, 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

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