QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

5 km ESE of Benton City, Washington

· -0.2 km deep · released about 480 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Benton County 7 kmFranklin County 52 kmWalla Walla County 72 kmUmatilla County 89 kmMorrow County 91 kmYakima County 104 kmGrant County 109 kmAdams County 111 kmKlickitat 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 2.8 (ml)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Benton County, 7 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 236 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 480 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 32,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 22,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 480 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 46.2345, -119.4220. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Benton County, WA 7 km (5 mi) E of here earthquakes near Benton County
Franklin County, WA 52 km (32 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Walla Walla County, WA 72 km (45 mi) W of here earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Umatilla County, OR 89 km (55 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Umatilla County
Morrow County, OR 91 km (57 mi) N of here earthquakes near Morrow County
Yakima County, WA 104 km (65 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Yakima County

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

Aftershocks so far

12 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

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.