Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Port Townsend, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Port Townsend in the 24 hours to 7:59 pm PST (03:59 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 80 km (50 mi) S, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Port Townsend
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north of Port Townsend, WA, at 9:14 am PST on 7 November 2016 (17:14 UTC), 24 km deep. 21 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 5 km N of Port Townsend, Washington
68 km (42 mi) NNW of Seattle, WA · 46 km (29 mi) WNW of Marysville, WA
- When
- 9:14 am PST on 7 November 2016 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) north of Port Townsend, WA · earthquakes near Port Townsend
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 24 km below the surface
- Felt
- 21 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity II (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Island County, 7 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Whidbey Island 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 3569 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Port Townsend, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Port Townsend, WA. No account or email needed.
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 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 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Port Townsend, 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.
Likely felt in: Port Townsend 5 km, intensity II · Coupeville 8 km, intensity II · Oak Harbor 17 km, intensity II · Camano 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 830 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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 410,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 830 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 44 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 31 km NE 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 48.1638, -122.7620. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Island County, WA | 7 km (4 mi) | E | earthquakes near Island County |
| San Juan County, WA | 46 km (28 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 59 km (37 mi) | S | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Jefferson County, WA | 69 km (43 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 75 km (47 mi) | E | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Skagit County, WA | 79 km (49 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Skagit County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 5 km S of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 1.9 7 km SSW of Clinton, Washington
- 1.9 5 km NW of Freeland, Washington
- 1.6 2 km W of Coupeville, Washington
- 1.5 3 km SSE of Quilcene, Washington
- 1.7 5 km ESE of Camano, Washington
- 1.7 5 km W of Port Hadlock-Irondale, Washington
- 2.7 12 km W of Coupeville, Washington
- 1.7 1 km NNW of Sequim, Washington
- 1.8 6 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 3.3 7 km N of Quilcene, Washington
- 1.8 13 km SSW of Friday Harbor, Washington
- 1.9 5 km WNW of Lofall, Washington
- 1.7 3 km SW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 2.7 6 km S of Coupeville, 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.