M2.3 earthquake 22 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington
A magnitude 2.3 earthquake struck 22 km SE of Desert Aire, Washington on Wed, Sep 23, 1981, 9:28 AM PDT (16:28 UTC), 19 km (12 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M2.6 7 km NNW of Royal City, Washington. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 2.3 (md), micro
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-09-23 16:28:39 UTC
- Depth
- 19.1 km (11.9 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 46.522° N, 119.725° W
- Region
- Washington
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 0.5 km horizontally, 0.7 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.10
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 52°
- Stations used
- 27
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 2.67 km NNW of Royal City, Washington · 16431 days ago · 1 km deep · 49 km away
- 1.66 km SSE of Thorp, Washington · 16418 days ago · 10 km deep · 89 km away
- 1.922 km NW of Bickleton, Washington · 16417 days ago · 12 km deep · 72 km away
- 2.32 km SW of Kittitas, Washington · 16414 days ago · 8 km deep · 73 km away
- 1.64 km SE of Royal City, Washington · 16407 days ago · 0 km deep · 40 km away
- 2.11 km SW of Kittitas, Washington · 16399 days ago · 8 km deep · 73 km away
- 1.810 km SW of Royal City, Washington · 16387 days ago · 2 km deep · 35 km away
- 1.610 km SW of Royal City, Washington · 16383 days ago · 1 km deep · 35 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayWashington earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event uw10119143. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 8:44 PM UTC.