QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

2 km SSW of Ferndale, Washington

· 20 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Juan County 51 kmWhatcom County 56 kmSkagit County 69 kmIsland County 75 kmSnohomish County 106 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
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Juan County, 51 km SW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 878 days ago

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

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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.

Where

Epicentre 48.8285, -122.6077. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Juan County, WA 51 km (32 mi) NE of here earthquakes near San Juan County
Whatcom County, WA 56 km (35 mi) W of here earthquakes near Whatcom County
Skagit County, WA 69 km (43 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Skagit County
Island County, WA 75 km (46 mi) N of here earthquakes near Island County
Snohomish County, WA 106 km (66 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Snohomish County
Clallam County, WA 124 km (77 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Clallam County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 7 km NNE of Sedro-Woolley, Washington
  2. 1.5 5 km WSW of Ferndale, Washington
  3. 2.5 11 km NE of Abbotsford, Canada
  4. 1.5 8 km WNW of La Conner, Washington
  5. 1.7 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  6. 1.9 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  7. 2.8 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  8. 1.7 4 km WSW of Mount Vernon, Washington
  9. 2.6 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  10. 1.9 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  11. 1.8 5 km SW of Custer, Washington
  12. 1.7 8 km NNE of Sedro-Woolley, Washington
  13. 1.9 3 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  14. 2.9 3 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
  15. 2.0 3 km S of Alger, 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.