explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Darrington, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Darrington in the 24 hours to 3:26 pm PST (23:26 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 74 km (46 mi) W, at 11:35 pm PDT on 1 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2,030 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Darrington
No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.8 explosion was recorded 2 km (1 mi) west of Darrington, WA, at 1:38 pm PDT on 25 August 2022 (20:38 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 2 km W of Darrington, Washington
89 km (55 mi) NE of Seattle, WA · 43 km (27 mi) ENE of Marysville, WA
- When
- 1:38 pm PDT on 25 August 2022 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) west of Darrington, WA · earthquakes near Darrington
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- -1.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Snohomish County, 24 km SSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1539 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Darrington, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Darrington, 2 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.
Likely felt in: Darrington 2 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 Near Marblemount, Washington · 32 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 39 km SW 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 48.2542, -121.6333. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snohomish County, WA | 24 km (15 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Skagit County, WA | 30 km (19 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Whatcom County, WA | 67 km (42 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Whatcom County |
| Island County, WA | 78 km (48 mi) | W | earthquakes near Island County |
| King County, WA | 86 km (54 mi) | S | earthquakes near King County |
| Chelan County, WA | 87 km (54 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Chelan County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 1 km ESE of Three Lakes, Washington
- 1.7 3 km N of Woods Creek, Washington
- 1.7 4 km E of Lake Bosworth, Washington
- 1.6 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.9 3 km SSE of Woods Creek, Washington
- 1.6 4 km N of Woods Creek, Washington
- 1.8 9 km NNE of Rockport, Washington
- 1.7 1 km ESE of Oso, Washington
- 1.5 3 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.6 2 km S of Sultan, Washington
- 1.5 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.6 13 km ENE of Verlot, Washington
- 1.5 11 km NE of May Creek, Washington
- 1.8 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.7 9 km SW of Concrete, 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.