Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
12 km ENE of North Saanich, Canada
Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 12 km ENE of North Saanich, Canada, 58 km (36 mi) W of Bellingham, WA, at 4:09 pm PDT on 18 May 2020 (23:09 UTC), 20 km deep.
58 km (36 mi) W of Bellingham, WA · 137 km (85 mi) NNW of Seattle, WA
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Juan County, 23 km SSE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2369 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Friday Harbor, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Friday 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. 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: Friday Harbor.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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.
Where
Epicentre 48.6905, -123.2563. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan County, WA | 23 km (14 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Island County, WA | 73 km (46 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Island County |
| Clallam County, WA | 80 km (49 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Clallam County |
| Jefferson County, WA | 100 km (62 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Whatcom County, WA | 105 km (66 mi) | E | earthquakes near Whatcom County |
| Skagit County, WA | 108 km (67 mi) | E | earthquakes near Skagit County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 11 km E of North Saanich, Canada
- 1.6 9 km WSW of Cowichan Bay, Canada
- 1.7 9 km NW of Langford, Canada
- 1.6 9 km NW of Orcas, Washington
- 1.7 2 km N of Metchosin, Canada
- 2.3 Washington-British Columbia border region
- 1.5 2 km NW of Orcas, Washington
- 2.0 6 km W of Orcas, Washington
- 1.6 5 km NNW of Victoria, Canada
- 1.8 9 km WSW of Friday Harbor, Washington
- 2.5 7 km SSE of Oak Bay, Canada
- 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
- 2.4 12 km SSE of Friday 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.