QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Forks, WA

USGS: 22 km W of Forks, Washington

12:25 am PST, Dec 24, 2023 · · 21 km deep · released about 88 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Forks Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Clallam County 62 kmJefferson County 88 kmGrays Harbor County 113 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
12:25 am PST on 24 December 2023 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) W of Forks, WA · earthquakes near Forks
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Clallam County, 62 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Cascadia fold and fault belt, 3 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 1010 days ago

A magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) W of Forks, WA, at 12:25 am PST on 24 December 2023 (08:25 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 88 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 88 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 47.9425, -124.6865. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Clallam County, WA 62 km (39 mi) ENE earthquakes near Clallam County
Jefferson County, WA 88 km (55 mi) E earthquakes near Jefferson County
Grays Harbor County, WA 113 km (70 mi) SE earthquakes near Grays Harbor County
Mason County, WA 131 km (81 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mason County
San Juan County, WA 133 km (83 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Juan County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.8 14 km W of Sekiu, Washington
  2. 0.6 12 km SSE of Neah Bay, Washington
  3. 0.7 12 km SSE of Neah Bay, Washington
  4. 1.6 16 km NNW of Queets, Washington
  5. 1.5 19 km NNW of Forks, Washington
  6. 2.1 26 km W of Forks, Washington
  7. 2.5 23 km W of Neah Bay, Washington
  8. 1.7 12 km S of Forks, Washington
  9. 1.6 11 km E of Forks, Washington
  10. 1.6 12 km SW of Neah Bay, Washington
  11. 1.6 20 km N of Queets, Washington
  12. 1.9 28 km WSW of Neah Bay, Washington
  13. 1.6 4 km WSW of Forks, Washington
  14. 1.9 21 km NNW of Forks, Washington
  15. 1.8 21 km NNW of Forks, 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.