Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6ml
Earthquake near Oak Harbor, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Oak Harbor in the 24 hours to 2:48 am PST (10:48 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 99 km (62 mi) S, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oak Harbor
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) west-northwest of Oak Harbor, WA, at 4:13 am PDT on 23 March 2023 (11:13 UTC), 21 km deep. 40 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: Washington-British Columbia border region
- When
- 4:13 am PDT on 23 March 2023 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) west-northwest of Oak Harbor, WA · earthquakes near Oak Harbor
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 21 km below the surface
- Felt
- 40 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- San Juan County, 8 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Utsalady Point fault, 11 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 725 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Oak Harbor, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Oak Harbor, 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Oak Harbor, 47 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: Friday Harbor.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 75,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 53,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.7× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 200 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 48.4848, -123.2140. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan County, WA | 8 km (5 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Island County, WA | 54 km (34 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Island County |
| Clallam County, WA | 65 km (40 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Clallam County |
| Jefferson County, WA | 79 km (49 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 103 km (64 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Skagit County, WA | 103 km (64 mi) | E | earthquakes near Skagit 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.
- 2.0 1 km SSW of North Saanich, Canada
- 1.7 6 km E of North Saanich, Canada
- 1.8 5 km SE of Oak Bay, Canada
- 1.9 5 km NNE of Port Angeles, Washington
- 1.7 2 km NE of Six Mile, Canada
- 2.1 4 km WSW of Ault Field, Washington
- 2.1 7 km NW of Jamestown, Washington
- 2.1 2 km S of River Road, Washington
- 1.5 8 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
- 2.5 4 km ENE of Oak Bay, Canada
- 1.5 10 km E of Orcas, Washington
- 4.5 2025 Orcas Island, Washington
- 2.3 1 km NNE of Esquimalt, Canada
- 3.7 16 km SSE of Victoria, Canada
- 1.8 17 km NNW of Jamestown, 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.