QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

11 km ESE of Cle Elum, Washington

· -0.9 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kittitas County 10 kmYakima County 76 kmChelan County 81 kmKing County 87 kmGrant County 101 kmPierce County 103 kmDouglas County 107 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
-0.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kittitas County, 10 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 908 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 5.4 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 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 47.1420, -120.8020. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kittitas County, WA 10 km (6 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Kittitas County
Yakima County, WA 76 km (47 mi) N of here earthquakes near Yakima County
Chelan County, WA 81 km (50 mi) S of here earthquakes near Chelan County
King County, WA 87 km (54 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near King County
Grant County, WA 101 km (63 mi) W of here earthquakes near Grant County
Pierce County, WA 103 km (64 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

23 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 12 km NW of Thorp, Washington
  4. 1.8 9 km SSW of Ellensburg, Washington
  5. 2.8 1 km SSE of Easton, Washington
  6. 1.7 3 km ESE of Kittitas, Washington
  7. 2.8 13 km NW of Cliffdell, Washington
  8. 1.8 15 km SW of Thorp, Washington
  9. 2.0 9 km S of Ellensburg, Washington
  10. 1.9 9 km S of Ellensburg, Washington
  11. 1.7 17 km W of Leavenworth, Washington
  12. 1.9 9 km S of Ellensburg, Washington
  13. 1.7 5 km ESE of Kittitas, Washington
  14. 1.9 9 km SSW of Ellensburg, Washington
  15. 2.0 9 km SSW of Ellensburg, 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.