QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

2 km SW of Kapowsin, Washington

· -0.5 km deep · released about 18 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pierce County 11 kmThurston County 44 kmLewis County 45 kmKing County 66 kmKitsap County 80 kmMason County 82 kmCowlitz County 92 kmSkamania County 108 kmWahkiakum County 117 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 1.9 (ml)
Depth
-0.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pierce County, 11 km NE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 521 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 18 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 840,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 53× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 18 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 46.9707, -122.2468. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Pierce County, WA 11 km (7 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Pierce County
Thurston County, WA 44 km (28 mi) E of here earthquakes near Thurston County
Lewis County, WA 45 km (28 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Lewis County
King County, WA 66 km (41 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near King County
Kitsap County, WA 80 km (50 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Kitsap County
Mason County, WA 82 km (51 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Mason County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 2 km ESE of Buckley, Washington
  2. 1.7 13 km N of Onalaska, Washington
  3. 2.2 24 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
  4. 1.5 1 km WSW of Kapowsin, Washington
  5. 2.8 3 km NE of Mineral, Washington
  6. 1.9 6 km NE of Mossyrock, Washington
  7. 1.8 17 km WSW of Alder, Washington
  8. 2.2 4 km ESE of Enumclaw, Washington
  9. 1.6 1 km SSE of Kapowsin, Washington
  10. 1.5 0 km SSW of Carbonado, Washington
  11. 1.7 8 km S of Mineral, Washington
  12. 1.6 5 km SE of Enumclaw, Washington
  13. 1.5 5 km NNE of Dash Point, Washington
  14. 1.8 1 km SE of Kapowsin, Washington
  15. 1.8 16 km SSE of Carbonado, 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.