Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Seattle, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Seattle in the 24 hours to 12:36 am PST (08:36 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 37 km (23 mi) SW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Seattle
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) southwest of Seattle, WA, at 12:18 pm PDT on 20 March 2017 (19:18 UTC), 25 km deep.
USGS: 3 km SW of Seattle, Washington
in Seattle, WA
- When
- 12:18 pm PDT on 20 March 2017 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) southwest of Seattle, WA · earthquakes near Seattle
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 25 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kitsap County, 23 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Seattle 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 3525 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Seattle, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Seattle, 3 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: Columbia City, White Center, Boulevard Park, Mercer Island, Medina, Clyde Hill.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 29 km S of this epicentre
- 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 36 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 44 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 22 km S 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 47.5850, -122.3590. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitsap County, WA | 23 km (14 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| King County, WA | 41 km (25 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near King County |
| Pierce County, WA | 61 km (38 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| Mason County, WA | 67 km (41 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mason County |
| Island County, WA | 68 km (42 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Island County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 69 km (43 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 2 km ENE of Enetai, Washington
- 2.0 0 km NNE of Enetai, Washington
- 1.8 3 km SE of Cathcart, Washington
- 1.6 0 km SW of Enetai, Washington
- 1.8 0 km WNW of Enetai, Washington
- 1.6 5 km S of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 1.8 1 km SE of Enetai, Washington
- 2.8 1 km ESE of Enetai, Washington
- 1.6 0 km SE of Enetai, Washington
- 2.0 1 km SE of Enetai, Washington
- 1.5 1 km W of Seattle, Washington
- 1.7 2 km ESE of Enetai, Washington
- 1.6 0 km NNE of Enetai, Washington
- 2.5 1 km NE of Enetai, Washington
- 2.2 Puget Sound region, 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.