QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

10 km SW of Kennewick, Washington

· -0.3 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Benton County 23 kmFranklin County 50 kmWalla Walla County 60 kmUmatilla County 74 kmMorrow County 86 kmColumbia County 103 kmAdams County 110 kmGilliam County 118 kmGrant County 119 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 1.7 (ml)
Depth
-0.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Benton County, 23 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 353 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 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 46.1578, -119.2417. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Benton County, WA 23 km (14 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Benton County
Franklin County, WA 50 km (31 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Walla Walla County, WA 60 km (37 mi) W of here earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Umatilla County, OR 74 km (46 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Umatilla County
Morrow County, OR 86 km (53 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Morrow County
Columbia County, WA 103 km (64 mi) W of here earthquakes near Columbia County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 12 km NE of Hermiston, Oregon
  2. 1.9 11 km W of Highland, Washington
  3. 1.7 11 km W of Highland, Washington
  4. 1.5 14 km NE of Hermiston, Oregon
  5. 1.8 4 km SSW of Wallula, Washington
  6. 2.1 2 km N of Highland, Washington
  7. 1.7 4 km ESE of Umatilla, Oregon
  8. 1.8 11 km W of Highland, Washington
  9. 1.7 12 km ENE of Hermiston, Oregon
  10. 2.0 7 km WNW of Highland, Washington
  11. 1.8 3 km SSW of West Richland, Washington
  12. 1.8 11 km SSW of Tri-Cities, Washington
  13. 2.8 5 km ESE of Benton City, Washington
  14. 2.0 4 km ESE of Umatilla, Oregon
  15. 1.9 4 km ESE of Umatilla, Oregon

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.