QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Issaquah, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Issaquah in the 24 hours to 5:33 pm PST (01:33 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 54 km (33 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 Issaquah

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east of Issaquah, WA, at 8:57 am PST on 24 January 2024 (16:57 UTC), 26 km deep.

USGS: 2 km E of Issaquah, Washington

28 km (18 mi) ESE of Seattle, WA · 8 km (5 mi) SSE of Sammamish, WA

8:57 am PST, Jan 24, 2024 · · 26 km deep · released about 77 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 13 kmKitsap County 50 kmPierce County 55 kmSnohomish County 61 kmIsland County 86 kmMason County 91 kmThurston County 91 kmSkagit County 108 kmKittitas County 109 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
8:57 am PST on 24 January 2024 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) east of Issaquah, WA · earthquakes near Issaquah
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
26 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
King County, 13 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Seattle fault, 2 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 1023 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. In Issaquah, 3 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: Klahanie, Mirrormont, City of Sammamish, Fall City, West Lake Sammamish, East Renton Highlands.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 77 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 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 77 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 2,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 38 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 27 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 27 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 32 km WSW 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 47.5303, -121.9982. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 13 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near King County
Kitsap County, WA 50 km (31 mi) WNW earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 55 km (34 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pierce County
Snohomish County, WA 61 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Island County, WA 86 km (53 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County
Mason County, WA 91 km (56 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mason 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. 2.1 3 km SSE of Issaquah, Washington
  2. 1.6 3 km SSE of Issaquah, Washington
  3. 1.8 5 km NE of Kingston, Washington
  4. 1.7 6 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
  5. 1.5 3 km SSE of Issaquah, Washington
  6. 1.6 12 km ESE of Enumclaw, Washington
  7. 2.6 7 km NE of Fall City, Washington
  8. 1.5 2 km W of Woods Creek, Washington
  9. 1.6 2 km W of Kirkland, Washington
  10. 1.5 1 km ESE of Three Lakes, Washington
  11. 1.9 5 km E of Enumclaw, Washington
  12. 1.6 10 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  13. 2.5 10 km NE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  14. 2.0 0 km WSW of Lynnwood, Washington
  15. 1.7 3 km N of Woods Creek, 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.