QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Edmonds, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Edmonds in the 24 hours to 4:21 am PST (12:21 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 52 km (33 mi) SSW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Edmonds

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) north-northwest of Edmonds, WA, at 11:08 pm PDT on 16 July 2023 (06:08 UTC), 23 km deep.

USGS: 3 km NNW of Edmonds, Washington

25 km (15 mi) N of Seattle, WA · 10 km (6 mi) NNW of Shoreline, WA

11:08 pm PDT, Jul 16, 2023 · · 23 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 29 kmIsland County 40 kmSnohomish County 53 kmKing County 58 kmMason County 79 kmJefferson County 84 kmSkagit County 85 kmPierce County 90 kmSan Juan County 90 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
11:08 pm PDT on 16 July 2023 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) north-northwest of Edmonds, WA · earthquakes near Edmonds
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
23 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 29 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, 2 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 589 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 Edmonds, 4 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: Woodway, Esperance, Lynnwood, Meadowdale, Picnic Point, Kingston.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 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 1,500,000× 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 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 22,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 41 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 45 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 44 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 35 km ENE 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 47.8403, -122.4063. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 29 km (18 mi) SW earthquakes near Kitsap County
Island County, WA 40 km (25 mi) NNW earthquakes near Island County
Snohomish County, WA 53 km (33 mi) ENE earthquakes near Snohomish County
King County, WA 58 km (36 mi) SE earthquakes near King County
Mason County, WA 79 km (49 mi) SW earthquakes near Mason County
Jefferson County, WA 84 km (52 mi) W earthquakes near Jefferson 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. 2.8 3 km E of Port Townsend, Washington
  2. 1.5 11 km N of Quilcene, Washington
  3. 2.2 3 km NE of Belfair, Washington
  4. 1.9 0 km E of East Renton Highlands, Washington
  5. 1.8 5 km SE of Quilcene, Washington
  6. 1.7 3 km NNW of Suquamish, Washington
  7. 1.6 2 km WNW of Mirrormont, Washington
  8. 1.5 5 km W of Coupeville, Washington
  9. 1.8 4 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington
  10. 1.8 2 km N of Keyport, Washington
  11. 1.7 1 km E of White Center, Washington
  12. 1.6 4 km E of Duvall, Washington
  13. 2.3 2 km E of Issaquah, Washington
  14. 2.6 1 km SSW of Burien, Washington
  15. 1.7 5 km SSW of Port Ludlow, 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.