QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

11 km SSW of Tri-Cities, Washington

· -0.2 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Benton County 21 kmFranklin County 51 kmWalla Walla County 62 kmUmatilla County 75 kmMorrow County 85 kmColumbia County 106 kmAdams County 112 kmGilliam County 116 kmYakima County 118 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 1.8 (ml)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Benton County, 21 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 52 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 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 46.1528, -119.2727. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Benton County, WA 21 km (13 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Benton County
Franklin County, WA 51 km (32 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Franklin County
Walla Walla County, WA 62 km (39 mi) W of here earthquakes near Walla Walla County
Umatilla County, OR 75 km (47 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Umatilla County
Morrow County, OR 85 km (53 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Morrow County
Columbia County, WA 106 km (66 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

11 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

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.