QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Snoqualmie, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Snoqualmie in the 24 hours to 6:15 pm PST (02:15 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 12 km (8 mi) S, at 6:09 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 46 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Snoqualmie

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Snoqualmie, WA, at 9:35 am PDT on 14 April 2023 (16:35 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 8 km ENE of Snoqualmie, Washington

47 km (29 mi) E of Seattle, WA · 23 km (15 mi) E of Sammamish, WA

9:35 am PDT, Apr 14, 2023 · · 18 km deep · released about 9.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 11 kmSnohomish County 55 kmPierce County 65 kmKitsap County 70 kmChelan County 89 kmKittitas County 93 kmIsland County 96 kmSkagit County 103 kmThurston County 109 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
9:35 am PDT on 14 April 2023 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Snoqualmie, WA · earthquakes near Snoqualmie
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
King County, 11 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Rattlesnake Mountain fault, 9 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 671 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. In Snoqualmie, 8 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: North Bend, Tanner, Riverbend, Fall City, Wilderness Rim, Carnation.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.3 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 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.6 on 2019-07-12 — about 24,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 24 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 22 km NNW 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 47.5647, -121.7287. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 11 km (7 mi) SW earthquakes near King County
Snohomish County, WA 55 km (34 mi) N earthquakes near Snohomish County
Pierce County, WA 65 km (41 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pierce County
Kitsap County, WA 70 km (43 mi) W earthquakes near Kitsap County
Chelan County, WA 89 km (55 mi) ENE earthquakes near Chelan County
Kittitas County, WA 93 km (58 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kittitas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 2 km S of Sultan, Washington
  2. 1.8 2 km NW of Duvall, Washington
  3. 1.6 14 km N of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
  4. 1.5 1 km SE of Bothell East, Washington
  5. 1.7 4 km NNW of Fall City, Washington
  6. 1.5 1 km SW of Duvall, Washington
  7. 1.5 11 km NE of May Creek, Washington
  8. 1.8 3 km WSW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  9. 2.7 1 km NW of Redmond, Washington
  10. 1.9 0 km E of East Renton Highlands, Washington
  11. 1.8 1 km WNW of Mirrormont, Washington
  12. 2.5 9 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  13. 3.1 7 km WSW of Snoqualmie, Washington
  14. 1.6 5 km S of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  15. 1.6 2 km WNW of Mirrormont, 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.