QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Fall City, WA

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) SSW of Fall City, WA, at 10:17 am PDT on 22 October 2016 (17:17 UTC), 24 km deep. 92 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

This was on 22 October 2016. The latest near Fall City: M 2.5 on 26 June 2026.

USGS: 3 km SSW of Fall City, Washington

11 km (7 mi) SE of Sammamish, WA · 34 km (21 mi) ESE of Seattle, WA

10:17 am PDT, Oct 22, 2016 · · 24 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Fall City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 8 kmKitsap County 56 kmPierce County 57 kmSnohomish County 59 kmIsland County 89 kmThurston County 96 kmMason County 97 kmChelan County 104 kmKittitas County 104 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
10:17 am PDT on 22 October 2016 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) SSW of Fall City, WA · earthquakes near Fall City
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
92 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
King County, 8 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Rattlesnake Mountain fault, under 1 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 3481 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Fall City, 4 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.

Likely felt in: Fall City 4 km, intensity II · Snoqualmie 7 km, intensity II · Klahanie 8 km, intensity II · Issaquah 9 km, intensity II · City of Sammamish 12 km, intensity II · West Lake Sammamish 14 km, intensity II · East Renton Highlands 16 km, intensity II · Sammamish 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 25 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 24 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 38 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 47.5378, -121.9173. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 8 km (5 mi) SE earthquakes near King County
Kitsap County, WA 56 km (35 mi) WNW earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 57 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pierce County
Snohomish County, WA 59 km (36 mi) N earthquakes near Snohomish County
Island County, WA 89 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County
Thurston County, WA 96 km (60 mi) SW earthquakes near Thurston County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 4 km ENE of May Creek, Washington
  2. 1.5 1 km N of White Center, Washington
  3. 2.0 0 km WNW of Bonney Lake, Washington
  4. 1.6 5 km NNE of Dash Point, Washington
  5. 1.7 3 km NE of Tanner, Washington
  6. 1.8 2 km WSW of Shoreline, Washington
  7. 2.4 5 km NNE of North Bend, Washington
  8. 1.5 1 km N of Carnation, Washington
  9. 1.6 0 km SSW of Beaux Arts Village, Washington
  10. 1.8 4 km WSW of Inglewood-Finn Hill, Washington
  11. 1.6 8 km ESE of Enumclaw, Washington
  12. 2.5 3 km ESE of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  13. 1.5 2 km ENE of Union Hill-Novelty Hill, Washington
  14. 1.6 1 km NE of Yarrow Point, Washington
  15. 1.8 8 km NE of Bainbridge Island, 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

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