QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Seabeck, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Seabeck in the 24 hours to 12:02 am PST (08:02 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 28 km (17 mi) SSE, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Seabeck

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west of Seabeck, WA, at 10:39 am PST on 18 January 2021 (18:39 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 4 km W of Seabeck, Washington

40 km (25 mi) W of Seattle, WA

10:39 am PST, Jan 18, 2021 · · 15 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Seabeck Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 18 kmMason County 38 kmJefferson County 51 kmIsland County 61 kmThurston County 78 kmKing County 81 kmPierce County 85 kmGrays Harbor County 91 kmClallam County 92 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
10:39 am PST on 18 January 2021 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west of Seabeck, WA · earthquakes near Seabeck
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 18 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Seattle fault, 5 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 2124 days ago

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 Seabeck, 5 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: Chico, Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Silverdale, Bangor Trident Base, Rocky Point, Tracyton.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2017-02-23 — about 4,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 50 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 28 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 39 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 20 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 48 km SE 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 47.6327, -122.8898. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 18 km (11 mi) E earthquakes near Kitsap County
Mason County, WA 38 km (24 mi) SW earthquakes near Mason County
Jefferson County, WA 51 km (32 mi) WNW earthquakes near Jefferson County
Island County, WA 61 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Island County
Thurston County, WA 78 km (48 mi) S earthquakes near Thurston County
King County, WA 81 km (50 mi) E earthquakes near King County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 4 km NE of Home, Washington
  2. 1.9 2 km NE of Keyport, Washington
  3. 1.6 1 km S of Enetai, Washington
  4. 2.1 0 km S of Skokomish, Washington
  5. 1.8 5 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
  6. 2.0 3 km WSW of Home, Washington
  7. 1.7 2 km ENE of Bainbridge Island, Washington
  8. 1.9 2 km NW of Indianola, Washington
  9. 1.6 3 km SSW of Bethel, Washington
  10. 1.8 4 km N of Belfair, Washington
  11. 1.8 5 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
  12. 1.7 1 km ESE of Enetai, Washington
  13. 1.5 1 km ENE of Bainbridge Island, Washington
  14. 2.3 0 km E of Enetai, Washington
  15. 2.1 32 km S of Port Angeles East, 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.