QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

2 km ENE of Swede Heaven, Washington

· -1.3 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Skagit County 24 kmSnohomish County 27 kmWhatcom County 62 kmIsland County 74 kmKing County 90 kmChelan County 93 kmKitsap County 102 kmSan Juan County 107 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
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
-1.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Skagit County, 24 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1528 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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.

Where

Epicentre 48.2927, -121.6935. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Skagit County, WA 24 km (15 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Skagit County
Snohomish County, WA 27 km (17 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Snohomish County
Whatcom County, WA 62 km (39 mi) S of here earthquakes near Whatcom County
Island County, WA 74 km (46 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Island County
King County, WA 90 km (56 mi) N of here earthquakes near King County
Chelan County, WA 93 km (58 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Chelan County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 1 km ESE of Three Lakes, Washington
  2. 1.7 3 km N of Woods Creek, Washington
  3. 1.7 4 km E of Lake Bosworth, Washington
  4. 1.6 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  5. 2.6 15 km NNE of Lyman, Washington
  6. 1.6 4 km N of Woods Creek, Washington
  7. 1.8 9 km NNE of Rockport, Washington
  8. 1.7 1 km ESE of Oso, Washington
  9. 1.5 3 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
  10. 1.9 14 km ESE of Acme, Washington
  11. 1.8 14 km NNE of Lyman, Washington
  12. 1.5 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  13. 1.6 13 km ENE of Verlot, Washington
  14. 1.5 11 km NE of May Creek, Washington
  15. 1.8 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, 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.