QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Belfair, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Belfair in the 24 hours to 2:42 am PST (10:42 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 10 km (6 mi) SE, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Belfair

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north of Belfair, WA, at 10:45 pm PDT on 21 June 2022 (05:45 UTC), 20 km deep.

USGS: 5 km N of Belfair, Washington

39 km (24 mi) WSW of Seattle, WA · 37 km (23 mi) W of Burien, WA

10:45 pm PDT, Jun 21, 2022 · · 20 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Belfair Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 21 kmMason County 30 kmJefferson County 62 kmThurston County 63 kmPierce County 71 kmIsland County 74 kmKing County 75 kmGrays Harbor County 86 kmSnohomish County 101 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
10:45 pm PDT on 21 June 2022 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) north of Belfair, WA · earthquakes near Belfair
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 21 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Seattle fault, 6 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 1603 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. In Belfair, 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: Allyn, Navy Yard City, Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Bethel, Port Orchard, Chico.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 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 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 7,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 40 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 37 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 12 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 25 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 36 km NNW 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 47.4985, -122.8327. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 21 km (13 mi) NE earthquakes near Kitsap County
Mason County, WA 30 km (19 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mason County
Jefferson County, WA 62 km (39 mi) WNW earthquakes near Jefferson County
Thurston County, WA 63 km (39 mi) S earthquakes near Thurston County
Pierce County, WA 71 km (44 mi) SE earthquakes near Pierce County
Island County, WA 74 km (46 mi) N earthquakes near Island County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 2 km ESE of Enetai, Washington
  2. 1.7 4 km SE of Quilcene, Washington
  3. 1.5 4 km SW of Port Ludlow, Washington
  4. 1.6 4 km ESE of Quilcene, Washington
  5. 1.9 1 km NNW of Des Moines, Washington
  6. 2.0 Puget Sound region, Washington
  7. 2.4 0 km NW of Des Moines, Washington
  8. 1.7 2 km SSW of Burien, Washington
  9. 2.0 3 km WNW of Gorst, Washington
  10. 1.7 5 km SSE of Quilcene, Washington
  11. 1.6 0 km SW of Esperance, Washington
  12. 1.6 11 km S of Shelton, Washington
  13. 1.5 6 km WSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
  14. 1.5 Puget Sound region, Washington
  15. 1.7 Puget Sound region, 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.