QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Forks, WA

USGS: 20 km NW of Forks, Washington

2:30 pm PDT, Apr 6, 2024 · · 27 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Forks Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Clallam County 53 kmJefferson County 85 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
2:30 pm PDT on 6 April 2024 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) NW of Forks, WA · earthquakes near Forks
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Clallam County, 53 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Cascadia fold and fault belt, 14 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 830 days ago

A magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) NW of Forks, WA, at 2:30 pm PDT on 6 April 2024 (21:30 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 17 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 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 48.0688, -124.6013. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Clallam County, WA 53 km (33 mi) E earthquakes near Clallam County
Jefferson County, WA 85 km (53 mi) ESE earthquakes near Jefferson County
San Juan County, WA 121 km (75 mi) ENE earthquakes near San Juan County
Grays Harbor County, WA 121 km (75 mi) SSE earthquakes near Grays Harbor County
Mason County, WA 133 km (83 mi) SE earthquakes near Mason County

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

Aftershocks so far

42 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 7 km WNW of Neah Bay, Washington
  12. 1.6 20 km N of Queets, Washington
  13. 1.8 10 km N of Neah Bay, Washington
  14. 1.9 28 km WSW of Neah Bay, Washington
  15. 1.8 10 km WNW of Neah Bay, 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.