Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Manchester, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Manchester in the 24 hours to 10:25 pm PST (06:25 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 22 km (14 mi) SW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Manchester
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Manchester, WA, at 12:35 pm PST on 15 January 2021 (20:35 UTC), 25 km deep.
USGS: 2 km NNW of Manchester, Washington
16 km (10 mi) WSW of Seattle, WA
- When
- 12:35 pm PST on 15 January 2021 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Manchester, WA · earthquakes near Manchester
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 25 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kitsap County, 10 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Seattle fault, 2 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 2127 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Manchester, WA
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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 Manchester, 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: Enetai, Bremerton, Parkwood, Bainbridge Island, Port Orchard, East Port Orchard.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 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 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2017-02-23 — about 7,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 49 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 30 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 24 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 42 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, 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 47.5740, -122.5540. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitsap County, WA | 10 km (6 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Mason County, WA | 53 km (33 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mason County |
| King County, WA | 55 km (34 mi) | E | earthquakes near King County |
| Pierce County, WA | 65 km (41 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| Island County, WA | 66 km (41 mi) | N | earthquakes near Island County |
| Thurston County, WA | 74 km (46 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Thurston County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 4 km N of Belfair, Washington
- 1.6 1 km ESE of Issaquah, Washington
- 1.8 5 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 1.7 1 km ESE of Enetai, Washington
- 1.5 1 km ENE of Bainbridge Island, Washington
- 2.3 0 km E of Enetai, Washington
- 1.9 2 km NNE of Esperance, Washington
- 2.3 0 km SSW of Boulevard Park, Washington
- 1.7 1 km SW of East Port Orchard, Washington
- 1.5 1 km N of Boulevard Park, Washington
- 1.7 7 km WNW of Burley, Washington
- 1.7 1 km NNE of Tracyton, Washington
- 1.7 6 km NNW of Lofall, Washington
- 1.6 0 km N of Boulevard Park, Washington
- 2.8 0 km S of Boulevard Park, 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.