QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

5 km WNW of Lynden, Washington

· 17 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Whatcom County 51 kmSan Juan County 68 kmSkagit County 74 kmIsland County 91 kmSnohomish County 116 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 2.1 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
10 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Whatcom County, 51 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 282 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 10 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. 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.

Where

Epicentre 48.9727, -122.5125. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Whatcom County, WA 51 km (32 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Whatcom County
San Juan County, WA 68 km (42 mi) NE of here earthquakes near San Juan County
Skagit County, WA 74 km (46 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Skagit County
Island County, WA 91 km (57 mi) N of here earthquakes near Island County
Snohomish County, WA 116 km (72 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Snohomish County
Clallam County, WA 140 km (87 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Clallam County

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

Aftershocks so far

36 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 0.9 9 km ENE of Abbotsford, Canada
  2. 1.2 12 km ENE of Mission, Canada
  3. 1.6 7 km ENE of Abbotsford, Canada
  4. 1.8 15 km ESE of Acme, Washington
  5. 1.5 13 km N of Maple Ridge, Canada
  6. 1.5 5 km ENE of Coquitlam, Canada
  7. 1.8 8 km N of Maple Falls, Washington
  8. 1.5 11 km NE of Abbotsford, Canada
  9. 1.6 5 km N of Anacortes, Washington
  10. 1.8 5 km E of Acme, Washington
  11. 1.5 10 km NE of Abbotsford, Canada
  12. 1.7 12 km E of Mission, Canada
  13. 1.8 12 km ENE of Mission, Canada
  14. 1.5 8 km NE of Abbotsford, Canada
  15. 2.2 9 km SW of White Rock, Canada

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.5 on 2025-03-03 — it released about 4,000 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.