explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Three Lakes, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Three Lakes in the 24 hours to 2:21 pm PST (22:21 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 17 km (11 mi) NNE, at 2:29 pm PDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Three Lakes
No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.5 explosion was recorded in Three Lakes, WA, at 12:00 pm PDT on 17 September 2024 (19:00 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 1 km ESE of Three Lakes, Washington
15 km (9 mi) E of Everett, WA · 45 km (28 mi) NE of Seattle, WA
- When
- 12:00 pm PDT on 17 September 2024 ()
- Where
- in Three Lakes, WA · earthquakes near Three Lakes
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Snohomish County, 21 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Whidbey Island fault, 10 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 785 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Three Lakes, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Three Lakes, WA. No account or email needed.
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 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Lake Stevens 10 km, intensity II · Monroe 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 42,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 22 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 25 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 6 km N 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 47.9423, -121.9948. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snohomish County, WA | 21 km (13 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| King County, WA | 52 km (32 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near King County |
| Island County, WA | 56 km (35 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Island County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 59 km (37 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Skagit County, WA | 63 km (39 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Pierce County, WA | 100 km (62 mi) | S | earthquakes near Pierce County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 7 km S of Woods Creek, Washington
- 1.8 7 km SW of Swede Heaven, Washington
- 2.0 1 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.8 4 km WSW of Clinton, Washington
- 1.7 7 km NNE of May Creek, Washington
- 1.7 2 km NE of Echo Lake, Washington
- 2.8 4 km N of Echo Lake, Washington
- 2.1 0 km NNW of Esperance, Washington
- 1.6 2 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
- 1.8 8 km NE of Fall City, Washington
- 2.1 4 km WSW of Clinton, Washington
- 2.4 10 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
- 1.7 9 km ENE of Snoqualmie, Washington
- 1.5 4 km ESE of Indianola, Washington
- 2.4 2 km N of City of Sammamish, 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.