QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Shoreline, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Shoreline in the 24 hours to 3:16 am PST (11:16 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 49 km (30 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 Shoreline

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Shoreline, WA, at 8:16 am PST on 25 February 2020 (16:16 UTC), 21 km deep.

USGS: 1 km E of Shoreline, Washington

15 km (9 mi) N of Seattle, WA · in Shoreline, WA

8:16 am PST, Feb 25, 2020 · · 21 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 27 kmKing County 47 kmIsland County 52 kmSnohomish County 54 kmMason County 78 kmPierce County 79 kmJefferson County 90 kmSkagit County 91 kmThurston County 99 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
8:16 am PST on 25 February 2020 ()
Where
in Shoreline, WA · earthquakes near Shoreline
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 27 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, 3 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 2453 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. 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: Lake Forest Park, Mountlake Terrace, Esperance, Brier, Woodway, Kenmore.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.4 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 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 35,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 48 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 34 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 37 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 37 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 41 km S 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 47.7547, -122.3280. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 27 km (17 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kitsap County
King County, WA 47 km (29 mi) SE earthquakes near King County
Island County, WA 52 km (32 mi) NNW earthquakes near Island County
Snohomish County, WA 54 km (33 mi) NE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Mason County, WA 78 km (48 mi) SW earthquakes near Mason County
Pierce County, WA 79 km (49 mi) S earthquakes near Pierce County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  2. 2.0 2 km W of Union Hill-Novelty Hill, Washington
  3. 1.9 3 km N of White Center, Washington
  4. 1.8 2 km WSW of Shoreline, Washington
  5. 1.6 Puget Sound region, Washington
  6. 1.5 6 km NW of Gorst, Washington
  7. 1.8 4 km SSW of Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Washington
  8. 2.5 3 km W of Monroe, Washington
  9. 1.8 5 km W of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  10. 1.9 1 km SSE of Parkwood, Washington
  11. 1.7 3 km SSW of Roosevelt, Washington
  12. 2.4 5 km E of Quilcene, Washington
  13. 2.3 4 km NNW of Lakeland North, Washington
  14. 1.7 4 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
  15. 1.6 3 km ESE of Klahanie, 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.