Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Ames Lake, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Ames Lake in the 24 hours to 7:23 am PST (15:23 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 62 km (39 mi) WSW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ames Lake
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) south-southeast of Ames Lake, WA, at 4:10 am PDT on 4 September 2023 (11:10 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 2 km SSE of Ames Lake, Washington
30 km (18 mi) E of Seattle, WA · 7 km (4 mi) ENE of Sammamish, WA
- When
- 4:10 am PDT on 4 September 2023 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) south-southeast of Ames Lake, WA · earthquakes near Ames Lake
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- King County, 17 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Rattlesnake Mountain fault, 1 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 507 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ames Lake, WA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 Ames Lake, 2 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: Carnation, City of Sammamish, Klahanie, Fall City, Union Hill-Novelty Hill, Lake Marcel-Stillwater.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 30,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 47 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 17 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 18 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 43 km N of this epicentre
- 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 40 km SW 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 47.6147, -121.9558. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| King County, WA | 17 km (10 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near King County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 51 km (32 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 52 km (32 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Pierce County, WA | 64 km (40 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| Island County, WA | 81 km (50 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Island County |
| Mason County, WA | 96 km (60 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mason County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 4 km N of Woods Creek, Washington
- 1.8 3 km S of Southworth, Washington
- 1.7 1 km NE of White Center, Washington
- 2.2 3 km SW of Redmond, Washington
- 2.7 2 km E of Redmond, Washington
- 2.0 6 km NE of Snoqualmie, Washington
- 1.5 2 km N of Edmonds, Washington
- 1.6 3 km WNW of Shoreline, Washington
- 1.5 7 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
- 2.3 1 km S of Fall City, Washington
- 1.6 2 km S of Sultan, Washington
- 1.8 2 km NW of Duvall, Washington
- 1.6 14 km N of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
- 1.5 6 km SE of Maplewood, Washington
- 1.8 5 km ESE of Maplewood, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.