QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

13 km S of Birch Bay, Washington

· 14 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Juan County 40 kmWhatcom County 69 kmIsland County 71 kmSkagit County 78 kmSnohomish County 111 kmClallam County 112 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
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Juan County, 40 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2923 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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.

Where

Epicentre 48.7973, -122.7793. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Juan County, WA 40 km (25 mi) NE of here earthquakes near San Juan County
Whatcom County, WA 69 km (43 mi) W of here earthquakes near Whatcom County
Island County, WA 71 km (44 mi) N of here earthquakes near Island County
Skagit County, WA 78 km (49 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Skagit County
Snohomish County, WA 111 km (69 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Snohomish County
Clallam County, WA 112 km (70 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Clallam County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 11 km WNW of Ault Field, Washington
  2. 2.0 17 km NW of Orcas, Washington
  3. 1.6 5 km NW of Burlington, Washington
  4. 1.5 8 km SW of Point Roberts, Washington
  5. 1.8 13 km WSW of Anacortes, Washington
  6. 1.5 7 km W of Orcas, Washington
  7. 2.6 9 km NW of Friday Harbor, Washington
  8. 1.9 16 km E of North Saanich, Canada
  9. 1.6 8 km ENE of North Saanich, Canada
  10. 1.8 4 km NW of Orcas, Washington
  11. 1.7 10 km SE of Friday Harbor, Washington
  12. 2.2 15 km SSE of Friday Harbor, Washington
  13. 1.9 4 km E of Sudden Valley, Washington
  14. 2.2 12 km WNW of Ault Field, Washington
  15. 2.3 12 km NW 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

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