QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Lofall, WA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Lofall in the last 24 hours. M 1.8, 8 km (5 mi) NNW of Lofall, at 12:24 pm PST on 12 November 2026 (20:24 UTC); the estimated shaking in Lofall was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Lofall

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.5 explosion was recorded 7 km (4 mi) north-northwest of Lofall, WA, at 11:06 am PDT on 9 June 2021 (18:06 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 6 km NNW of Lofall, Washington

38 km (23 mi) NW of Seattle, WA · 29 km (18 mi) WNW of Shoreline, WA

11:06 am PDT, Jun 9, 2021 · · -0.1 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 25 kmIsland County 33 kmJefferson County 62 kmMason County 67 kmSnohomish County 73 kmKing County 77 kmSan Juan County 77 kmClallam County 93 kmSkagit County 96 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
11:06 am PDT on 9 June 2021 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) north-northwest of Lofall, WA · earthquakes near Lofall
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
-0.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 25 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, 17 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 1983 days ago

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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Lofall, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Port Ludlow, Hansville, Poulsbo, Bangor Trident Base, Kingston, Indianola.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 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 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 7,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 24 km WSW 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 47.8660, -122.6973. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 25 km (16 mi) S earthquakes near Kitsap County
Island County, WA 33 km (20 mi) N earthquakes near Island County
Jefferson County, WA 62 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Jefferson County
Mason County, WA 67 km (42 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mason County
Snohomish County, WA 73 km (45 mi) ENE earthquakes near Snohomish County
King County, WA 77 km (48 mi) ESE earthquakes near King County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 4 km ENE of Camano, Washington
  2. 1.7 5 km SW of Seattle, Washington
  3. 1.6 Olympic Peninsula, Washington
  4. 1.6 8 km N of Belfair, Washington
  5. 1.8 3 km ESE of Port Ludlow, Washington
  6. 2.0 6 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
  7. 1.5 3 km NNE of Picnic Point, Washington
  8. 1.6 1 km SW of Bothell East, Washington
  9. 1.9 6 km N of Brinnon, Washington
  10. 1.7 3 km WNW of Gorst, Washington
  11. 1.8 7 km ESE of Blyn, Washington
  12. 1.5 1 km WSW of Silverdale, Washington
  13. 1.8 4 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
  14. 1.9 1 km ESE of Esperance, Washington
  15. 1.7 12 km NNW of Quilcene, 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.