QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

10 km WNW of Orcas, Washington

· 17 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Juan County 13 kmIsland County 60 kmClallam County 83 kmSkagit County 94 kmWhatcom County 94 kmJefferson County 97 kmKitsap County 114 kmSnohomish County 116 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Juan County, 13 km S
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 568 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.4 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 48.6235, -123.0805. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Juan County, WA 13 km (8 mi) N of here earthquakes near San Juan County
Island County, WA 60 km (37 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Island County
Clallam County, WA 83 km (51 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Clallam County
Skagit County, WA 94 km (59 mi) W of here earthquakes near Skagit County
Whatcom County, WA 94 km (59 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Whatcom County
Jefferson County, WA 97 km (60 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Jefferson County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.9 6 km SSE of Birch Bay, Washington
  2. 1.8 8 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
  3. 2.4 12 km SSE of Friday Harbor, Washington
  4. 1.7 9 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
  5. 1.5 9 km E of Ganges, Canada
  6. 1.5 8 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
  7. 1.5 9 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
  8. 1.8 8 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
  9. 2.3 12 km ENE of Ganges, Canada
  10. 1.6 9 km E of Ganges, Canada
  11. 3.7 12 km ENE of Ganges, Canada
  12. 1.5 3 km ENE of Custer, Washington
  13. 2.4 8 km N of Anacortes, Washington
  14. 1.8 8 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
  15. 1.7 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.