Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Carnation, WA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Carnation in the last 24 hours. M 2.0, 3 km (2 mi) NE of Carnation, at 8:48 am PST on 11 November 2026 (16:48 UTC); the estimated shaking in Carnation was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Carnation
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Carnation, WA, at 6:36 am PST on 29 December 2020 (14:36 UTC), 20 km deep. 310 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 6 km ENE of Carnation, Washington
40 km (25 mi) E of Seattle, WA · 18 km (11 mi) ENE of Sammamish, WA
- When
- 6:36 am PST on 29 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Carnation, WA · earthquakes near Carnation
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- 310 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- King County, 19 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Whidbey Island fault, 4 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 2023 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Carnation, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Carnation, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 30 km (19 mi) from the epicentre. In Carnation, 7 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.
Likely felt in: Fall City 12 km, intensity II · Snoqualmie 15 km, intensity II · City of Sammamish 17 km, intensity II · Sammamish 19 km, intensity II · Issaquah 21 km, intensity II · Redmond 22 km, intensity II · West Lake Sammamish 23 km, intensity II · Monroe 24 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 890 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 380,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 17,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 890 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 4.6 on 2019-07-12 — about 250 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 11 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 10 km N of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 40 km NNW 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 47.6635, -121.8252. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| King County, WA | 19 km (12 mi) | S | earthquakes near King County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 44 km (27 mi) | N | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 62 km (38 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Pierce County, WA | 72 km (45 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| Island County, WA | 84 km (52 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Island County |
| Skagit County, WA | 92 km (57 mi) | N | earthquakes near Skagit County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 1 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.6 10 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
- 1.6 2 km S of Monroe, Washington
- 1.5 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.8 1 km SW of Snoqualmie, Washington
- 1.7 2 km E of Lake Stevens, Washington
- 1.6 1 km ESE of Issaquah, Washington
- 1.6 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.9 2 km NNE of Esperance, Washington
- 2.3 0 km SSW of Boulevard Park, Washington
- 2.2 1 km NNE of Carnation, Washington
- 1.5 1 km N of Boulevard Park, Washington
- 1.7 3 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.9 2 km SE of Ravensdale, Washington
- 1.7 6 km ENE of Lake Roesiger, 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.