Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Lynden, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Lynden in the 24 hours to 9:14 pm PST (05:14 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 74 km (46 mi) S, at 11:35 pm PDT on 1 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2,030 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lynden
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west-northwest of Lynden, WA, at 7:25 pm PDT on 4 October 2025 (02:25 UTC), 17 km deep. 10 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 5 km WNW of Lynden, Washington
25 km (15 mi) N of Bellingham, WA · 115 km (71 mi) NNW of Everett, WA
- When
- 7:25 pm PDT on 4 October 2025 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) west-northwest of Lynden, WA · earthquakes near Lynden
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- 10 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Whatcom County, 51 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Birch Bay fault, 16 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 328 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Lynden, WA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Lynden, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Everson, Nooksack, Ferndale, Blaine, Birch Bay, Sumas.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2025-03-03 — about 4,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 San Juan Islands, Washington · 37 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 21 km SSE of Point Roberts, Washington · 40 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Deming, Washington · 29 km ESE 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 48.9727, -122.5125. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whatcom County, WA | 51 km (32 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Whatcom County |
| San Juan County, WA | 68 km (42 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Skagit County, WA | 74 km (46 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Island County, WA | 91 km (57 mi) | S | earthquakes near Island County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 116 km (72 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Clallam County, WA | 140 km (87 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Clallam County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.4 7 km ENE of Abbotsford, Canada
- 0.8 6 km ESE of Mission, Canada
- 1.1 13 km ENE of Mission, Canada
- 1.5 7 km N of Geneva, Washington
- 1.2 9 km ENE of Abbotsford, Canada
- 0.5 11 km E of Orcas, Washington
- 1.4 11 km NE of Abbotsford, Canada
- 1.0 9 km ENE of Mission, Canada
- 0.3 13 km WSW of Marietta, Washington
- 1.4 5 km ENE of Sudden Valley, Washington
- 1.5 9 km ENE of Port Coquitlam, Canada
- 0.9 9 km ENE of Abbotsford, Canada
- 1.2 12 km ENE of Mission, Canada
- 1.6 7 km ENE of Abbotsford, Canada
- 1.8 15 km ESE of Acme, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.