QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Three Lakes, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Three Lakes in the 24 hours to 8:30 am PST (16:30 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 17 km (11 mi) NNE, at 2:29 pm PDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Three Lakes

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded in Three Lakes, WA, at 8:58 pm PDT on 20 June 2023 (03:58 UTC), 26 km deep.

USGS: 1 km SSW of Three Lakes, Washington

13 km (8 mi) ESE of Everett, WA · 43 km (26 mi) NE of Seattle, WA

8:58 pm PDT, Jun 20, 2023 · · 26 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Snohomish County 24 kmKing County 51 kmIsland County 55 kmKitsap County 57 kmSkagit County 64 kmPierce County 98 kmWhatcom County 102 kmSan Juan County 103 kmChelan County 105 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
8:58 pm PDT on 20 June 2023 ()
Where
in Three Lakes, WA · earthquakes near Three Lakes
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
26 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Snohomish County, 24 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, 8 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 1242 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: Machias, Monroe North, Snohomish, Bunk Foss, Fobes Hill, Monroe.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 13,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 22 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 25 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 8 km NNE 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 47.9307, -122.0213. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Snohomish County, WA 24 km (15 mi) NE earthquakes near Snohomish County
King County, WA 51 km (32 mi) SSE earthquakes near King County
Island County, WA 55 km (34 mi) WNW earthquakes near Island County
Kitsap County, WA 57 km (35 mi) SW earthquakes near Kitsap County
Skagit County, WA 64 km (40 mi) NNE earthquakes near Skagit County
Pierce County, WA 98 km (61 mi) S earthquakes near Pierce 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. 1.7 4 km NNW of Fall City, Washington
  2. 1.6 13 km ENE of Verlot, Washington
  3. 1.5 1 km SW of Duvall, Washington
  4. 1.5 11 km NE of May Creek, Washington
  5. 2.1 3 km NNE of White Center, Washington
  6. 1.8 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  7. 2.7 1 km NW of Redmond, Washington
  8. 1.9 0 km E of East Renton Highlands, Washington
  9. 2.5 9 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  10. 3.1 7 km WSW of Snoqualmie, Washington
  11. 3.4 13 km E of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
  12. 1.9 7 km NE of Fall City, Washington
  13. 1.6 4 km E of Duvall, Washington
  14. 2.3 2 km E of Issaquah, Washington
  15. 2.0 7 km ENE of Fall City, 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.