Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Tacoma, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Tacoma in the 24 hours to 10:58 pm PST (06:58 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 27 km (17 mi) NW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tacoma
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) east-southeast of Tacoma, WA, at 2:06 pm PDT on 17 March 2020 (21:06 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 0 km SE of Carbonado, Washington
64 km (40 mi) SSE of Seattle, WA · 28 km (17 mi) SSE of Auburn, WA
- When
- 2:06 pm PDT on 17 March 2020 ()
- Where
- 36 km (22 mi) east-southeast of Tacoma, WA · earthquakes near Tacoma
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Pierce County, 8 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Tacoma fault, 21 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 Tacoma, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Tacoma, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Tacoma, 36 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: Crocker, Prairie Heights, Buckley, Prairie Ridge, Orting, Enumclaw.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 26 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 580,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 410,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 36× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 26 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.7 4 km WNW of Roy, Washington · 42 km W of this epicentre
- 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 39 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 42 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 47.0780, -122.0482. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pierce County, WA | 8 km (5 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| King County, WA | 49 km (30 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near King County |
| Lewis County, WA | 61 km (38 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Lewis County |
| Thurston County, WA | 61 km (38 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Thurston County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 77 km (48 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Mason County, WA | 90 km (56 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mason County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 0 km ESE of Buckley, Washington
- 1.9 11 km SE of Riverbend, Washington
- 2.3 4 km SE of Black Diamond, Washington
- 1.8 12 km W of Greenwater, Washington
- 1.9 11 km ESE of Enumclaw, Washington
- 2.0 2 km N of Lakeland South, Washington
- 1.5 22 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
- 2.0 22 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
- 2.0 22 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
- 2.0 22 km ENE of Ashford, Washington
- 1.5 1 km SSW of Ravensdale, Washington
- 2.0 2 km SSW of Ravensdale, Washington
- 1.5 17 km NE of Ashford, Washington
- 1.6 12 km W of Greenwater, Washington
- 1.7 13 km W of Greenwater, 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.