Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Bellingham, WA
USGS: 17 km NNW of Orcas, Washington
40 km (25 mi) W of Bellingham, WA · 135 km (84 mi) NNW of Seattle, WA
- When
- 11:38 am PDT on 18 June 2018 ()
- Where
- 39 km (24 mi) W of Bellingham, WA · earthquakes near Bellingham
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Juan County, 27 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Sandy Point fault, 17 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 3027 days ago
A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) W of Bellingham, WA, at 11:38 am PDT on 18 June 2018 (18:38 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Friday Harbor, Point Roberts, Birch Bay.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 San Juan Islands, Washington · 17 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 21 km SSE of Point Roberts, Washington · 6 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.1 10 km ESE of Salt Spring Island, Canada · 26 km WNW 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 48.7473, -123.0162. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan County, WA | 27 km (17 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Island County, WA | 70 km (44 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Island County |
| Whatcom County, WA | 87 km (54 mi) | E | earthquakes near Whatcom County |
| Skagit County, WA | 93 km (58 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Clallam County, WA | 96 km (59 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Clallam County |
| Jefferson County, WA | 111 km (69 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 3 km WNW of North Saanich, Canada
- 2.0 17 km NW of Orcas, Washington
- 1.5 8 km SW of Point Roberts, Washington
- 1.8 13 km WSW of Anacortes, Washington
- 1.6 2 km S of Oak Bay, Canada
- 1.5 7 km W of Orcas, Washington
- 2.6 9 km NW of Friday Harbor, Washington
- 1.9 16 km E of North Saanich, Canada
- 1.6 8 km ENE of North Saanich, Canada
- 1.8 4 km NW of Orcas, Washington
- 1.7 10 km SE of Friday Harbor, Washington
- 2.2 15 km SSE of Friday Harbor, Washington
- 2.2 12 km WNW of Ault Field, Washington
- 2.3 12 km NW of Ault Field, Washington
- 2.2 12 km WNW of Ault Field, 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.