Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Oak Harbor, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Oak Harbor in the 24 hours to 11:38 pm PST (07:38 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 99 km (62 mi) S, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oak Harbor
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) east-northeast of Oak Harbor, WA, at 1:01 pm PDT on 15 March 2020 (20:01 UTC), 22 km deep.
USGS: 4 km ENE of Oak Harbor, Washington
78 km (49 mi) NNW of Seattle, WA · 41 km (25 mi) NW of Marysville, WA
- When
- 1:01 pm PDT on 15 March 2020 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) east-northeast of Oak Harbor, WA · earthquakes near Oak Harbor
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 22 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Island County, 17 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Utsalady Point fault, 2 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 615 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Oak Harbor, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Oak Harbor, WA. No account or email needed.
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 Oak Harbor, 4 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: Ault Field, Coupeville, Camano, Stanwood, Warm Beach, Mount Vernon.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 San Juan Islands, Washington · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 12 km ENE 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 48.3030, -122.5898. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Island County, WA | 17 km (11 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Island County |
| San Juan County, WA | 44 km (27 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Skagit County, WA | 61 km (38 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 67 km (42 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 74 km (46 mi) | S | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Whatcom County, WA | 82 km (51 mi) | NE | 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.
- 1.6 1 km WNW of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
- 2.2 2 km N of Mount Vernon, Washington
- 1.8 3 km NW of Mount Vernon, Washington
- 1.8 5 km SW of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
- 2.3 7 km SSE of Coupeville, Washington
- 2.2 5 km E of Big Lake, Washington
- 1.7 6 km NNW of Lofall, Washington
- 1.8 5 km S of Hansville, Washington
- 1.6 8 km NE of Jamestown, Washington
- 2.0 7 km NNE of Jamestown, Washington
- 1.8 2 km S of Clear Lake, Washington
- 1.6 4 km WNW of Freeland, Washington
- 1.5 6 km NNW of Lofall, Washington
- 1.6 1 km NNW of Mount Vernon, Washington
- 2.3 1 km W of Oak Harbor, 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.