QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.2ml

Earthquake near Tieton, WA

USGS: 4 km WNW of Tieton, Washington

25 km (15 mi) NW of Yakima, WA · 138 km (86 mi) ESE of Tacoma, WA

4:08 pm PDT, Oct 2, 2026 · · 17 km deep · released about 1.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Yakima County 30 kmKittitas County 46 kmKlickitat County 95 kmPierce County 108 kmBenton County 113 kmKing County 115 kmGrant County 116 kmSkamania County 117 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
4:08 pm PDT on 2 October 2026 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) WNW of Tieton, WA · earthquakes near Tieton
Magnitude
M 1.2 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Yakima County, 30 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3 hours ago

A magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) WNW of Tieton, WA, at 4:08 pm PDT on 2 October 2026 (23:08 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Gleed, West Valley, Selah, Ahtanum, Yakima.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 520× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.2 about 1.8 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.

For this area

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 23 km ESE of Packwood, Washington · 50 km WSW of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 46.7225, -120.8100. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Yakima County, WA 30 km (19 mi) S earthquakes near Yakima County
Kittitas County, WA 46 km (28 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kittitas County
Klickitat County, WA 95 km (59 mi) S earthquakes near Klickitat County
Pierce County, WA 108 km (67 mi) WNW earthquakes near Pierce County
Benton County, WA 113 km (70 mi) ESE earthquakes near Benton County
King County, WA 115 km (72 mi) NW earthquakes near King County

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

Aftershocks so far

No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

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.