explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Granite Falls, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Granite Falls in the 24 hours to 1:49 am PST (09:49 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 3 km (2 mi) ENE, at 2:29 pm PDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Granite Falls
No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.9 explosion was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Granite Falls, WA, at 11:28 am PST on 13 December 2019 (19:28 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
62 km (38 mi) NNE of Seattle, WA · 17 km (10 mi) E of Marysville, WA
- When
- 11:28 am PST on 13 December 2019 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Granite Falls, WA · earthquakes near Granite Falls
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Snohomish County, 13 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2525 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Granite Falls, WA
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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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Granite Falls, 3 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.
Likely felt in: Lake Stevens 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 20 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 760,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 540,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 48× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 20 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 4.6 on 2019-07-12 — about 11,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 37 km S of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 39 km S of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 12 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 6 km W of Conway, 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 48.0957, -121.9297. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snohomish County, WA | 13 km (8 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Skagit County, WA | 45 km (28 mi) | N | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Island County, WA | 55 km (34 mi) | W | earthquakes near Island County |
| King County, WA | 68 km (42 mi) | S | earthquakes near King County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 74 km (46 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Whatcom County, WA | 83 km (52 mi) | N | earthquakes near Whatcom 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.
- 1.7 3 km WSW of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
- 1.5 5 km NNW of North Sultan, Washington
- 1.7 3 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.6 6 km SSE of Oso, Washington
- 1.9 4 km WSW of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
- 2.2 3 km S of Duvall, Washington
- 3.0 6 km ENE of Carnation, Washington
- 2.2 3 km ENE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
- 1.6 3 km ENE of Echo Lake, Washington
- 2.9 4 km S of Monroe, Washington
- 1.8 4 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 2.1 6 km SE of Oso, Washington
- 1.8 3 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 2.6 3 km WSW of Monroe, Washington
- 1.9 4 km W of Mount Vernon, 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.