Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9ml
12 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- When
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 18 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Benton County, 47 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 660 days ago
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 18 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 780 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 19,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 780 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 46.6087, -119.7968. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benton County, WA | 47 km (29 mi) | NNW of here | earthquakes near Benton County |
| Franklin County, WA | 69 km (43 mi) | W of here | earthquakes near Franklin County |
| Grant County, WA | 72 km (45 mi) | SSW of here | earthquakes near Grant County |
| Yakima County, WA | 74 km (46 mi) | ENE of here | earthquakes near Yakima County |
| Kittitas County, WA | 88 km (55 mi) | SE of here | earthquakes near Kittitas County |
| Adams County, WA | 107 km (67 mi) | WSW of here | earthquakes near Adams County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
27 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 20 km SW of Desert Aire, Washington
- 1.8 3 km SSW of West Richland, Washington
- 1.7 24 km E of Desert Aire, Washington
- 1.6 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- 2.3 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- 1.9 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- 1.6 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- 1.6 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- 2.4 11 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- 2.3 4 km SSW of West Richland, Washington
- 1.6 10 km ENE of Prosser, Washington
- 1.9 12 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- 1.6 12 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- 1.8 12 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
- 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.