explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Port Ludlow, WA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Port Ludlow in the last 24 hours. M 1.8, 5 km (3 mi) SSW of Port Ludlow, at 12:24 pm PST on 12 November 2026 (20:24 UTC); the estimated shaking in Port Ludlow was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Port Ludlow
No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.7 explosion was recorded 2 km (1 mi) northeast of Port Ludlow, WA, at 1:18 pm PDT on 12 June 2020 (20:18 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 2 km NE of Port Ludlow, Washington
43 km (27 mi) NNW of Seattle, WA · 32 km (20 mi) NW of Shoreline, WA
- When
- 1:18 pm PDT on 12 June 2020 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) northeast of Port Ludlow, WA · earthquakes near Port Ludlow
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Island County, 24 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Whidbey Island fault, 13 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 2341 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Port Ludlow, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Port Ludlow, 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Port Ludlow, 2 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: Hansville, Freeland, Port Hadlock-Irondale, Lofall, Kingston, Port Townsend.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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:
- 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 29 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 47 km NNE 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 47.9403, -122.6683. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Island County, WA | 24 km (15 mi) | N | earthquakes near Island County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 33 km (21 mi) | S | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Jefferson County, WA | 66 km (41 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 68 km (43 mi) | E | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| San Juan County, WA | 71 km (44 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Mason County, WA | 76 km (47 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Mason 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.
- 1.7 4 km SSE of Bainbridge Island, Washington
- 2.2 5 km SE of Bainbridge Island, Washington
- 1.8 4 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 1.5 2 km ENE of Enetai, Washington
- 2.4 2 km NE of Indianola, Washington
- 2.3 1 km SSE of Enetai, Washington
- 2.2 5 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 1.7 1 km N of Kingsgate, Washington
- 1.8 3 km W of Navy Yard City, Washington
- 2.0 3 km NNE of Southworth, Washington
- 1.6 10 km SW of Brinnon, Washington
- 1.7 5 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 2.0 0 km N of Enetai, Washington
- 1.8 1 km SW of Enetai, Washington
- 1.6 2 km S of Bainbridge Island, 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.