Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8ml
Earthquake near Port Townsend, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Port Townsend in the 24 hours to 8:26 am PST (16:26 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 80 km (50 mi) S, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Port Townsend
This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east of Port Townsend, WA, at 1:33 am PDT on 24 March 2024 (08:33 UTC), 56 km deep. 25 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3 km E of Port Townsend, Washington
62 km (39 mi) NNW of Seattle, WA · 42 km (26 mi) W of Marysville, WA
- When
- 1:33 am PDT on 24 March 2024 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) east of Port Townsend, WA · earthquakes near Port Townsend
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 56 km below the surface
- Felt
- 25 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Island County, 5 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Whidbey Island fault, under 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 617 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Port Townsend, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Port Townsend, 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: Port Hadlock-Irondale, Coupeville, Camano, Freeland, Oak Harbor, Port Ludlow.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 550 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 28,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 19,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.7× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 550 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 4.3 on 2023-10-09 — about 160 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 41 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 32 km NE 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 48.1222, -122.7193. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Island County, WA | 5 km (3 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Island County |
| San Juan County, WA | 51 km (32 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 54 km (33 mi) | S | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Jefferson County, WA | 70 km (43 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Jefferson County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 71 km (44 mi) | E | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Skagit County, WA | 79 km (49 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Skagit County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
- 2.1 0 km NNW of Esperance, Washington
- 1.7 4 km WSW of Mount Vernon, Washington
- 2.1 4 km WSW of Ault Field, Washington
- 1.7 5 km WSW of Mount Vernon, Washington
- 2.1 7 km NW of Jamestown, Washington
- 2.4 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington
- 2.1 2 km S of River Road, Washington
- 1.5 5 km S of Port Ludlow, Washington
- 2.1 4 km WSW of Clinton, Washington
- 1.5 4 km ESE of Indianola, Washington
- 1.6 7 km NE of Quilcene, Washington
- 1.7 5 km W of Weallup Lake, Washington
- 1.9 5 km WSW of Stanwood, Washington
- 3.9 14 km SW of Blyn, 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.