QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Manchester, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Manchester in the 24 hours to 6:34 am PST (14:34 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 22 km (14 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 Manchester

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Manchester, WA, at 11:16 pm PDT on 15 October 2018 (06:16 UTC), 27 km deep.

USGS: 2 km ESE of Manchester, Washington

15 km (9 mi) SW of Seattle, WA · 15 km (9 mi) WNW of Burien, WA

11:16 pm PDT, Oct 15, 2018 · · 27 km deep · released about 5.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Manchester Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 15 kmKing County 52 kmMason County 54 kmPierce County 61 kmIsland County 69 kmThurston County 72 kmSnohomish County 80 kmJefferson County 81 kmLewis County 108 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
11:16 pm PDT on 15 October 2018 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Manchester, WA · earthquakes near Manchester
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 15 km NW
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 2950 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 Manchester, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Southworth, Parkwood, Enetai, East Port Orchard, Port Orchard, Bremerton.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2017-02-23 — about 7,400 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 25 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 24 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 41 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 46 km NW 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 47.5427, -122.5157. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 15 km (9 mi) NW earthquakes near Kitsap County
King County, WA 52 km (32 mi) E earthquakes near King County
Mason County, WA 54 km (33 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mason County
Pierce County, WA 61 km (38 mi) SSE earthquakes near Pierce County
Island County, WA 69 km (43 mi) N earthquakes near Island County
Thurston County, WA 72 km (44 mi) SSW earthquakes near Thurston 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. 1.8 4 km SSW of Roosevelt, Washington
  2. 1.6 6 km WNW of DuPont, Washington
  3. 2.0 7 km WSW of Grapeview, Washington
  4. 1.5 3 km SSW of Gorst, Washington
  5. 1.6 5 km NNE of Kingston, Washington
  6. 2.6 3 km WSW of Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Washington
  7. 1.9 1 km N of Enetai, Washington
  8. 2.0 0 km ESE of Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Washington
  9. 1.8 1 km NNE of Burley, Washington
  10. 1.7 2 km NW of Indianola, Washington
  11. 2.2 7 km W of Clinton, Washington
  12. 1.7 2 km SSE of Manchester, Washington
  13. 1.7 6 km SSE of Port Ludlow, Washington
  14. 2.5 0 km N of Woodway, Washington
  15. 1.7 2 km SE of Manchester, 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.