Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Point Roberts, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Point Roberts in the 24 hours to 10:55 pm PST (06:55 UTC). The last one was M 4.5, 46 km (29 mi) SSE, at 5:02 am PST on 3 March 2025, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 11,411 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Point Roberts
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east-southeast of Point Roberts, WA, at 4:25 pm PDT on 9 April 2020 (23:25 UTC), 21 km deep.
USGS: 10 km ESE of Point Roberts, Washington
41 km (26 mi) WNW of Bellingham, WA · 123 km (77 mi) NNW of Everett, WA
- When
- 4:25 pm PDT on 9 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) east-southeast of Point Roberts, WA · earthquakes near Point Roberts
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 21 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Juan County, 51 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Birch Bay fault, 10 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 2408 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Point Roberts, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Point Roberts, 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 Point Roberts, 10 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: Blaine, Birch Bay, Ferndale.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.7 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× 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 8.7 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:
- 6.0 San Juan Islands, Washington · 30 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 21 km SSE of Point Roberts, Washington · 18 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.1 10 km ESE of Salt Spring Island, Canada · 35 km WSW 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 48.9548, -122.9468. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan County, WA | 51 km (32 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Whatcom County, WA | 82 km (51 mi) | E | earthquakes near Whatcom County |
| Island County, WA | 91 km (56 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Island County |
| Skagit County, WA | 98 km (61 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Clallam County, WA | 117 km (73 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Clallam County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 133 km (82 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Snohomish 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 6 km W of Orcas, Washington
- 2.7 6 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
- 2.1 7 km SSW of Birch Bay, Washington
- 1.6 11 km E of North Saanich, Canada
- 1.6 9 km NW of Orcas, Washington
- 2.2 8 km NE of Marietta-Alderwood, Washington
- 1.9 3 km SE of Surrey, Canada
- 2.3 Washington-British Columbia border region
- 1.5 2 km NW of Orcas, Washington
- 2.0 6 km W of Orcas, Washington
- 1.5 7 km NW of Lynden, Washington
- 1.5 10 km NNW of Anacortes, Washington
- 2.7 7 km S of Point Roberts, Washington
- 1.9 6 km SSE of Birch Bay, Washington
- 1.8 8 km WNW of Orcas, 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.