QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Everett, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Everett in the 24 hours to 7:43 am PST (15:43 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 75 km (47 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 Everett

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) north-northeast of Everett, WA, at 9:44 am PST on 8 December 2023 (17:44 UTC), 1.0 km deep.

USGS: 3 km NNW of Oso, Washington

81 km (51 mi) NNE of Seattle, WA · 29 km (18 mi) NNE of Marysville, WA

9:44 am PST, Dec 8, 2023 · · 1.0 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Everett Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Skagit County 24 kmSnohomish County 30 kmIsland County 56 kmWhatcom County 61 kmSan Juan County 89 kmKitsap County 90 kmKing County 90 kmChelan County 110 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
9:44 am PST on 8 December 2023 ()
Where
40 km (25 mi) north-northeast of Everett, WA · earthquakes near Everett
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
1.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Skagit County, 24 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1071 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Everett, 40 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Arlington Heights, Bryant, Arlington, Sisco Heights, Granite Falls, Smokey Point.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 31,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.6 Near Marblemount, Washington · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 33 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 36 km W 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 48.2980, -121.9430. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Skagit County, WA 24 km (15 mi) NNE earthquakes near Skagit County
Snohomish County, WA 30 km (19 mi) SSE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Island County, WA 56 km (35 mi) WSW earthquakes near Island County
Whatcom County, WA 61 km (38 mi) N earthquakes near Whatcom County
San Juan County, WA 89 km (55 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Juan County
Kitsap County, WA 90 km (56 mi) SW earthquakes near Kitsap County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  2. 1.7 4 km WSW of Mount Vernon, Washington
  3. 2.6 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  4. 1.9 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  5. 1.7 8 km NNE of Sedro-Woolley, Washington
  6. 2.0 1 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  7. 1.7 7 km NNE of May Creek, Washington
  8. 1.9 3 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  9. 2.9 3 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  10. 2.0 3 km S of Alger, Washington
  11. 1.7 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  12. 1.7 4 km WSW of Mount Vernon, Washington
  13. 1.6 2 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
  14. 1.7 5 km WSW of Mount Vernon, Washington
  15. 2.4 4 km W of Mount Vernon, 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.