Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Kingston, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kingston in the 24 hours to 6:21 pm PST (02:21 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 47 km (29 mi) SSW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Kingston
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Kingston, WA, at 5:12 pm PDT on 22 May 2021 (00:12 UTC), 25 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4 km NNW of Kingston, Washington
27 km (17 mi) NNW of Seattle, WA · 16 km (10 mi) NW of Shoreline, WA
- When
- 5:12 pm PDT on 22 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Kingston, WA · earthquakes near Kingston
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 25 km below the surface
- Felt
- 4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Kitsap County, 24 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Whidbey Island 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 1930 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kingston, 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 Kingston, 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: Hansville, Indianola, Lofall, Edmonds, Woodway, Suquamish.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 41 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 370,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 260,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 23× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 41 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 5,400 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 · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 36 km W of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 43 km ENE 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 47.8362, -122.5212. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitsap County, WA | 24 km (15 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Island County, WA | 38 km (23 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Island County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 61 km (38 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| King County, WA | 64 km (40 mi) | SE | earthquakes near King County |
| Mason County, WA | 73 km (45 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Mason County |
| Jefferson County, WA | 75 km (47 mi) | W | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 1 km NNW of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.5 3 km NNE of Picnic Point, Washington
- 1.6 1 km SW of Bothell East, Washington
- 1.9 6 km N of Brinnon, Washington
- 1.7 3 km WNW of Gorst, Washington
- 1.8 7 km ESE of Blyn, Washington
- 1.5 1 km WSW of Silverdale, Washington
- 1.8 1 km SW of Monroe North, Washington
- 1.8 4 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 1.7 1 km NNW of Silvana, Washington
- 1.9 1 km ESE of Esperance, Washington
- 1.7 12 km NNW of Quilcene, Washington
- 2.2 1 km NNE of Cathcart, Washington
- 1.6 7 km WNW of Gorst, Washington
- 1.5 7 km ENE of Allyn, 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.