Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6ml
Earthquake near Mount Vernon, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Mount Vernon in the 24 hours to 4:46 am PST (12:46 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 2 km (1 mi) ENE, at 9:17 pm PDT on 11 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 10 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Mount Vernon
This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) east of Mount Vernon, WA, at 4:15 am PDT on 1 May 2022 (11:15 UTC), 14 km deep. 678 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2 km E of Mount Vernon, Washington
89 km (56 mi) N of Seattle, WA · 39 km (24 mi) SSE of Bellingham, WA
- When
- 4:15 am PDT on 1 May 2022 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) east of Mount Vernon, WA · earthquakes near Mount Vernon
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- 678 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Skagit County, 37 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Utsalady Point fault, 22 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 448 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Mount Vernon, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Mount Vernon, 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 65 km (40 mi) from the epicentre. In Mount Vernon, 2 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Mount Vernon 2 km, intensity III · Sedro-Woolley 10 km, intensity III · Anacortes 25 km, intensity III · Arlington 28 km, intensity II · Oak Harbor 29 km, intensity II · Camano 32 km, intensity II · Coupeville 36 km, intensity II · Bellingham 40 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 51,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.3 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.9× more
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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 San Juan Islands, Washington · 48 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 14 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Deming, Washington · 48 km NNE 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 48.4235, -122.3055. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skagit County, WA | 37 km (23 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Island County, WA | 40 km (25 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Island County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 57 km (36 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Whatcom County, WA | 58 km (36 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Whatcom County |
| San Juan County, WA | 60 km (37 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 91 km (56 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 15 km NE of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
- 1.9 4 km SW of Big Lake, Washington
- 1.6 2 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
- 2.9 12 km NNE of Hamilton, Washington
- 1.6 10 km ESE of Orcas, Washington
- 1.9 6 km W of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
- 2.0 15 km SSW of Concrete, Washington
- 1.6 2 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
- 2.0 14 km NE of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
- 2.3 15 km NE of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
- 1.6 4 km NNE of Oso, Washington
- 1.5 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.7 Washington
- 1.6 9 km NNE of Sedro-Woolley, Washington
- 3.1 6 km N of Camano, 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.