Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Port Angeles, WA
USGS: 33 km SSW of Port Angeles East, Washington
88 km (55 mi) WNW of Seattle, WA
- When
- 2:30 pm PST on 5 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 34 km (21 mi) S of Port Angeles, WA · earthquakes near Port Angeles
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 37 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Jefferson County, 3 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Lake Creek-Boundary Creek fault, 25 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 2459 days ago
A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) S of Port Angeles, WA, at 2:30 pm PST on 5 January 2020 (22:30 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 23 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 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 1,700 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 · 37 km E 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 47.8177, -123.4900. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County, WA | 3 km (2 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Clallam County, WA | 44 km (27 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Clallam County |
| Mason County, WA | 57 km (35 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Mason County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 66 km (41 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Island County, WA | 72 km (45 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Island County |
| San Juan County, WA | 82 km (51 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Juan County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 22 km WSW of Quilcene, Washington
- 1.6 10 km SSE of Port Angeles East, Washington
- 2.3 28 km NW of Hoodsport, Washington
- 3.4 17 km WSW of Brinnon, Washington
- 2.3 24 km W of Quilcene, Washington
- 3.5 7 km SSW of River Road, Washington
- 4.0 6 km W of Quilcene, Washington
- 1.9 12 km NNW of Amanda Park, Washington
- 1.6 2 km ENE of Port Angeles East, Washington
- 2.2 32 km ESE of Forks, Washington
- 1.6 9 km SSW of Carlsborg, Washington
- 2.1 14 km N of Hoodsport, Washington
- 2.0 Washington-British Columbia border region
- 2.5 11 km SW of Brinnon, Washington
- 1.6 17 km N of Amanda Park, 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.