Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3ml
Earthquake near Darrington, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Darrington in the 24 hours to 8:43 pm PST (04:43 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 74 km (46 mi) W, at 11:35 pm PDT on 1 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2,030 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Darrington
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Darrington, WA, at 9:02 pm PDT on 21 April 2021 (04:02 UTC), 7.7 km deep. 14 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4 km SW of Darrington, Washington
86 km (53 mi) NE of Seattle, WA · 41 km (25 mi) ENE of Marysville, WA
- When
- 9:02 pm PDT on 21 April 2021 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Darrington, WA · earthquakes near Darrington
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 14 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Snohomish County, 21 km SSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1959 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Darrington, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Darrington, 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Darrington, 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.
Likely felt in: Darrington 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 82 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 82 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 2,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 Near Marblemount, Washington · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 36 km SW 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 48.2313, -121.6550. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snohomish County, WA | 21 km (13 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Skagit County, WA | 31 km (20 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Whatcom County, WA | 69 km (43 mi) | N | earthquakes near Whatcom County |
| Island County, WA | 76 km (47 mi) | W | earthquakes near Island County |
| King County, WA | 83 km (52 mi) | S | earthquakes near King County |
| Chelan County, WA | 87 km (54 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Chelan 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 1 km SW of Monroe North, Washington
- 2.0 4 km W of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
- 1.6 2 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.8 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 2.0 8 km NE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.6 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.9 20 km E of Darrington, Washington
- 2.0 4 km SE of Swede Heaven, Washington
- 2.1 7 km W of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
- 1.5 1 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.7 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 3.0 2 km ESE of Big Lake, Washington
- 1.6 Washington
- 1.7 2 km WSW of Woods Creek, Washington
- 1.8 0 km NNE of Woods Creek, 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.