QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

10 km E of Oak Bay, Canada

Yes. A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 10 km E of Oak Bay, Canada, at 4:55 am PDT on 24 March 2023 (11:55 UTC), 22 km deep.

· 22 km deep · released about 29 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Juan County 8 kmIsland County 48 kmClallam County 65 kmJefferson County 76 kmKitsap County 97 kmSkagit County 99 kmWhatcom County 107 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 2.0 (ml)
Depth
22 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Juan County, 8 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Utsalady Point fault, 7 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 1329 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. 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 29 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 520,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 33× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 29 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 48.4408, -123.1570. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Juan County, WA 8 km (5 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Juan County
Island County, WA 48 km (30 mi) SE earthquakes near Island County
Clallam County, WA 65 km (41 mi) SW earthquakes near Clallam County
Jefferson County, WA 76 km (47 mi) SSW earthquakes near Jefferson County
Kitsap County, WA 97 km (60 mi) SSE earthquakes near Kitsap County
Skagit County, WA 99 km (62 mi) E earthquakes near Skagit County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 4 km WSW of Ault Field, Washington
  2. 2.1 7 km NW of Jamestown, Washington
  3. 2.1 2 km S of River Road, Washington
  4. 1.5 8 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
  5. 2.5 4 km ENE of Oak Bay, Canada
  6. 1.5 10 km E of Orcas, Washington
  7. 4.5 2025 Orcas Island, Washington
  8. 2.3 1 km NNE of Esquimalt, Canada
  9. 3.7 16 km SSE of Victoria, Canada
  10. 1.8 17 km NNW of Jamestown, Washington
  11. 1.5 11 km NNW of Orcas, Washington
  12. 1.9 6 km SSW of River Road, Washington
  13. 1.6 5 km N of Port Townsend, Washington
  14. 2.8 10 km WSW of Friday Harbor, Washington
  15. 2.0 9 km W of Coupeville, 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.