QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Snoqualmie, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Snoqualmie in the 24 hours to 4:36 am PST (12:36 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 12 km (8 mi) S, at 6:09 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 46 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Snoqualmie

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in Snoqualmie, WA, at 6:32 am PDT on 13 September 2021 (13:32 UTC), 19 km deep.

USGS: 1 km SW of Snoqualmie, Washington

40 km (25 mi) ESE of Seattle, WA · 17 km (11 mi) ESE of Sammamish, WA

6:32 am PDT, Sep 13, 2021 · · 19 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 3 kmPierce County 57 kmSnohomish County 60 kmKitsap County 62 kmIsland County 94 kmKittitas County 98 kmThurston County 99 kmChelan County 99 kmMason County 102 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
6:32 am PDT on 13 September 2021 ()
Where
in Snoqualmie, WA · earthquakes near Snoqualmie
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
19 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
King County, 3 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Rattlesnake Mountain fault, under 1 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 614 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. 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: North Bend, Fall City, Tanner, Riverbend, Wilderness Rim, Mirrormont.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 15,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 27 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 26 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 42 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 47.5183, -121.8405. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 3 km (2 mi) S earthquakes near King County
Pierce County, WA 57 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pierce County
Snohomish County, WA 60 km (37 mi) N earthquakes near Snohomish County
Kitsap County, WA 62 km (39 mi) WNW earthquakes near Kitsap County
Island County, WA 94 km (59 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County
Kittitas County, WA 98 km (61 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kittitas 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. 1.7 1 km WNW of Bonney Lake, Washington
  2. 2.7 4 km E of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
  3. 1.8 8 km SSW of Sultan, Washington
  4. 2.3 3 km WNW of Duvall, Washington
  5. 1.6 6 km ENE of Mirrormont, Washington
  6. 1.6 6 km W of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  7. 1.5 0 km SSE of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  8. 2.1 5 km SW of Black Diamond, Washington
  9. 1.5 5 km SW of Des Moines, Washington
  10. 1.8 5 km SW of Des Moines, Washington
  11. 1.6 6 km SW of Sultan, Washington
  12. 1.6 Washington
  13. 1.6 Puget Sound region, Washington
  14. 1.5 Washington
  15. 1.8 2 km SSE of Lake Forest Park, 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.