QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

6 km W of Orcas, Washington

· 15 km deep · released about 6.6 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Juan County 12 kmIsland County 57 kmClallam County 84 kmSkagit County 91 kmWhatcom County 92 kmJefferson County 96 kmKitsap County 111 kmSnohomish County 112 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Juan County, 12 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1307 days ago

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

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 48.6072, -123.0365. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Juan County, WA 12 km (8 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near San Juan County
Island County, WA 57 km (35 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Island County
Clallam County, WA 84 km (52 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Clallam County
Skagit County, WA 91 km (56 mi) W of here earthquakes near Skagit County
Whatcom County, WA 92 km (57 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Whatcom County
Jefferson County, WA 96 km (60 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Jefferson County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 4.5 2025 Orcas Island, Washington
  2. 2.3 1 km NNE of Esquimalt, Canada
  3. 3.7 16 km SSE of Victoria, Canada
  4. 1.8 17 km NNW of Jamestown, Washington
  5. 1.5 11 km NNW of Orcas, Washington
  6. 1.8 2 km W of Point Roberts, Washington
  7. 2.1 3 km W of Point Roberts, Washington
  8. 1.7 2 km SW of Point Roberts, Washington
  9. 1.8 3 km WSW of Point Roberts, Washington
  10. 1.7 2 km WSW of Point Roberts, Washington
  11. 1.6 2 km W of Point Roberts, Washington
  12. 2.8 10 km WSW of Friday Harbor, Washington
  13. 2.0 9 km W of Coupeville, Washington
  14. 1.9 6 km NNE of Orcas, Washington
  15. 2.1 11 km E of North Saanich, Canada

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.