Earthquake near Morton, WA

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Morton, 11 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.

Likely felt in: Morton 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 31 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 480,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 340,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 31× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 31 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 lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 5.7 38 km NNE of Amboy, Washington · 29 km SSE of this epicentre May 18, 1980
2. 5.2 37 km NNE of Amboy, Washington · 29 km SSE of this epicentre Apr 14, 1980
3. 5.2 23 km S of Morton, Washington · 13 km SSE of this epicentre Feb 14, 1981
4. 5.1 Washington · 27 km SSE of this epicentre Apr 3, 1980
5. 5.1 38 km NNE of Amboy, Washington · 29 km SSE of this epicentre Apr 6, 1980

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 46.4590, -122.2935. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.9 39 km SSE of Morton, Washington 02:34 UTC
2. 1.5 30 km S of Morton, Washington 01:08 UTC
3. 1.7 11 km WSW of Mineral, Washington 22:20 UTC
4. 1.6 12 km WSW of Alder, Washington 16:44 UTC
5. 2.1 9 km S of Morton, Washington 01:23 UTC
6. 2.7 7 km ESE of Mossyrock, Washington 21:32 UTC
7. 2.6 9 km S of Morton, Washington 07:58 UTC
8. 1.8 14 km SW of Packwood, Washington 05:51 UTC
9. 1.8 25 km S of Morton, Washington 16:03 UTC
10. 2.0 8 km ESE of Ashford, Washington 04:58 UTC
11. 2.2 11 km WSW of Mineral, Washington 03:00 UTC
12. 1.6 10 km NE of Castle Rock, Washington 23:28 UTC
13. 1.6 10 km NE of Castle Rock, Washington 22:34 UTC
14. 1.5 24 km N of Amboy, Washington 10:06 UTC
15. 1.5 37 km NNE of Amboy, Washington 16:34 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:49 UTC. 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.