QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Olympia, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Olympia in the 24 hours to 4:52 am PST (12:52 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 42 km (26 mi) NNE, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Olympia

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.7 explosion was recorded 8 km (5 mi) north-northwest of Olympia, WA, at 4:56 pm PST on 13 February 2019 (00:56 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 8 km NNW of Olympia, Washington

9 km (5 mi) NNW of Olympia, WA · 71 km (44 mi) SW of Seattle, WA

4:56 pm PST, Feb 13, 2019 · · -2.0 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Olympia Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Thurston County 21 kmMason County 32 kmPierce County 60 kmKitsap County 62 kmGrays Harbor County 67 kmLewis County 73 kmJefferson County 89 kmPacific County 89 kmKing County 93 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
4:56 pm PST on 13 February 2019 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) north-northwest of Olympia, WA · earthquakes near Olympia
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
-2.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Thurston County, 21 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Olympia structure, 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 2829 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Olympia, 8 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: Tumwater, Lacey, Tanglewilde, Tanglewilde-Thompson Place, Shelton, Longbranch.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 3,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 16 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 4 km WNW of Roy, Washington · 28 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 19 km N 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 47.1142, -122.9388. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Thurston County, WA 21 km (13 mi) SSE earthquakes near Thurston County
Mason County, WA 32 km (20 mi) NW earthquakes near Mason County
Pierce County, WA 60 km (37 mi) E earthquakes near Pierce County
Kitsap County, WA 62 km (39 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kitsap County
Grays Harbor County, WA 67 km (42 mi) W earthquakes near Grays Harbor County
Lewis County, WA 73 km (45 mi) SE earthquakes near Lewis County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 12 km S of Shelton, Washington
  2. 1.5 1 km E of Dash Point, Washington
  3. 1.6 10 km S of Shelton, Washington
  4. 1.6 2 km WNW of Bethel, Washington
  5. 2.5 1 km E of Bethel, Washington
  6. 1.7 Puget Sound region, Washington
  7. 1.6 11 km S of Shelton, Washington
  8. 1.6 5 km WNW of DuPont, Washington
  9. 1.7 4 km SSW of Bethel, Washington
  10. 1.9 0 km N of Vaughn, Washington
  11. 1.5 5 km W of Gorst, Washington
  12. 1.6 2 km SW of Elk Plain, Washington
  13. 1.5 5 km WSW of Shelton, Washington
  14. 1.7 5 km W of Burley, Washington
  15. 1.6 2 km SW of Elk Plain, 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.