Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3ml
Earthquake near Port Angeles, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Port Angeles in the 24 hours to 6:19 am PST (14:19 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 96 km (60 mi) SE, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Port Angeles
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) southeast of Port Angeles, WA, at 4:49 am PST on 8 January 2019 (12:49 UTC), 41 km deep.
USGS: 15 km SW of River Road, Washington
76 km (47 mi) WNW of Seattle, WA
- When
- 4:49 am PST on 8 January 2019 ()
- Where
- 23 km (14 mi) southeast of Port Angeles, WA · earthquakes near Port Angeles
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 41 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Jefferson County, 26 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Lake Creek-Boundary Creek fault, 9 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 2864 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Port Angeles, 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 Port Angeles, 23 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: Sequim, Port Angeles East.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 85 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 85 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 2018-11-19 — about 470 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 25 km SE 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 47.9508, -123.2477. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, WA | 26 km (16 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Island County, WA | 49 km (30 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Island County |
| Clallam County, WA | 51 km (32 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Clallam County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 57 km (35 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| San Juan County, WA | 63 km (39 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Mason County, WA | 67 km (42 mi) | S | earthquakes near Mason County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 8 km NE of Jamestown, Washington
- 2.0 7 km NNE of Jamestown, Washington
- 2.6 18 km WSW of Quilcene, Washington
- 1.8 4 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 2.2 16 km NNW of Jamestown, Washington
- 1.7 26 km NW of Hoodsport, Washington
- 2.2 5 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 1.6 10 km SW of Brinnon, Washington
- 1.7 5 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 1.6 6 km SW of Port Hadlock-Irondale, Washington
- 1.8 5 km SW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 1.6 4 km W of Seabeck, Washington
- 1.9 10 km WSW of Port Angeles, Washington
- 1.8 6 km WNW of Coupeville, Washington
- 1.6 13 km W of Coupeville, 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.