QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Aberdeen, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Aberdeen in the 24 hours to 2:44 am PST (10:44 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 95 km (59 mi) ENE, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Aberdeen

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) north-northwest of Aberdeen, WA, at 6:37 am PDT on 21 July 2023 (13:37 UTC), 6.5 km deep.

USGS: 5 km WSW of Neilton, Washington

6:37 am PDT, Jul 21, 2023 · · 6.5 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Grays Harbor County 32 kmJefferson County 56 kmMason County 58 kmClallam County 81 kmPacific County 93 kmThurston County 98 kmKitsap County 101 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
6:37 am PDT on 21 July 2023 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) north-northwest of Aberdeen, WA · earthquakes near Aberdeen
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
6.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Grays Harbor County, 32 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Cascadia fold and fault belt, 5 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 1207 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Aberdeen, 47 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9 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 4.1 on 2018-11-19 — about 4,400 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.1 Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 46 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 18 km N of Satsop, Washington · 41 km SE 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 47.3873, -123.9412. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Grays Harbor County, WA 32 km (20 mi) SSE earthquakes near Grays Harbor County
Jefferson County, WA 56 km (35 mi) NNE earthquakes near Jefferson County
Mason County, WA 58 km (36 mi) E earthquakes near Mason County
Clallam County, WA 81 km (50 mi) N earthquakes near Clallam County
Pacific County, WA 93 km (58 mi) S earthquakes near Pacific County
Thurston County, WA 98 km (61 mi) ESE earthquakes near Thurston County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.9 25 km NE of Amanda Park, Washington
  2. 1.0 7 km WNW of Humptulips, Washington
  3. 1.0 17 km E of Humptulips, Washington
  4. 1.8 2 km WSW of Ocean City, Washington
  5. 1.8 34 km NE of Amanda Park, Washington
  6. 1.7 35 km NE of Amanda Park, Washington
  7. 1.6 16 km NNW of Queets, Washington
  8. 2.4 40 km NE of Amanda Park, Washington
  9. 1.5 6 km E of Queets, Washington
  10. 2.0 35 km NE of Amanda Park, Washington
  11. 1.6 20 km N of Queets, Washington
  12. 1.7 12 km NNW of Humptulips, Washington
  13. 2.2 12 km ENE of Humptulips, Washington
  14. 1.6 5 km WNW of Humptulips, Washington
  15. 1.5 2 km ESE of Humptulips, 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.