QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

4 km ENE of Sudden Valley, Washington

· 18 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Whatcom County 35 kmSkagit County 45 kmSan Juan County 65 kmIsland County 71 kmSnohomish County 86 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 3.2 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
220 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Whatcom County, 35 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3586 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 220 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× more

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 48.7447, -122.2888. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Whatcom County, WA 35 km (22 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Whatcom County
Skagit County, WA 45 km (28 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Skagit County
San Juan County, WA 65 km (41 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near San Juan County
Island County, WA 71 km (44 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Island County
Snohomish County, WA 86 km (53 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Snohomish County
Clallam County, WA 138 km (85 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Clallam County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 5 km NNE of Alger, Washington
  2. 1.6 3 km NNW of Hamilton, Washington
  3. 2.0 2 km S of Marietta, Washington
  4. 1.8 13 km S of Birch Bay, Washington
  5. 2.1 6 km SSE of Acme, Washington
  6. 1.6 4 km SW of Geneva, Washington
  7. 1.7 5 km E of Ferndale, Washington
  8. 1.6 7 km SSW of Geneva, Washington
  9. 1.7 6 km SSE of Acme, Washington
  10. 1.5 1 km ENE of Bay View, Washington
  11. 1.7 6 km ESE of Nooksack, Washington
  12. 1.6 8 km NW of Concrete, Washington
  13. 2.3 6 km W of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
  14. 1.7 3 km NNW of Alger, Washington
  15. 1.8 3 km ENE of Concrete, WA

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.