QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Warm Beach, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Warm Beach in the 24 hours to 11:16 am PST (19:16 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 90 km (56 mi) SSW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Warm Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) southeast of Warm Beach, WA, at 3:35 am PDT on 15 July 2018 (10:35 UTC), 24 km deep.

USGS: 3 km SE of Warm Beach, Washington

59 km (37 mi) N of Seattle, WA · 15 km (9 mi) WNW of Marysville, WA

3:35 am PDT, Jul 15, 2018 · · 24 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Warm Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Island County 26 kmSnohomish County 43 kmSkagit County 54 kmKitsap County 62 kmSan Juan County 70 kmKing County 82 kmWhatcom County 85 kmJefferson County 97 kmMason County 109 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
3:35 am PDT on 15 July 2018 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) southeast of Warm Beach, WA · earthquakes near Warm Beach
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Island County, 26 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, 15 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 3041 days ago

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 Warm Beach, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Tulalip, Stanwood, Smokey Point, Tulalip Bay, Langley, Camano.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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:

  1. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 30 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 22 km NNW 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 48.1518, -122.3257. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Island County, WA 26 km (16 mi) W earthquakes near Island County
Snohomish County, WA 43 km (27 mi) ESE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Skagit County, WA 54 km (33 mi) NE earthquakes near Skagit County
Kitsap County, WA 62 km (38 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kitsap County
San Juan County, WA 70 km (43 mi) NW earthquakes near San Juan County
King County, WA 82 km (51 mi) SSE earthquakes near King 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. 2.2 7 km W of Clinton, Washington
  2. 1.5 14 km NNW of Swede Heaven, Washington
  3. 1.5 8 km SSE of Coupeville, Washington
  4. 1.7 6 km SSE of Port Ludlow, Washington
  5. 2.5 0 km N of Woodway, Washington
  6. 2.1 Washington
  7. 2.4 6 km SW of Bay View, Washington
  8. 2.3 6 km SW of Bay View, Washington
  9. 1.6 9 km NNE of Quilcene, Washington
  10. 1.7 5 km SW of Hansville, Washington
  11. 1.5 2 km S of Big Lake, Washington
  12. 2.9 5 km SW of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
  13. 1.5 2 km NNW of Indianola, Washington
  14. 1.7 7 km N of Ault Field, Washington
  15. 1.9 3 km ENE of Granite Falls, 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.