QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Kirkland, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Kirkland in the 24 hours to 3:27 pm PST (23:27 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 50 km (31 mi) SW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Kirkland

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) west of Kirkland, WA, at 9:50 am PDT on 19 September 2024 (16:50 UTC), 28 km deep.

USGS: 2 km W of Kirkland, Washington

11 km (7 mi) NE of Seattle, WA · in Kirkland, WA

9:50 am PDT, Sep 19, 2024 · · 28 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 31 kmKing County 37 kmSnohomish County 54 kmIsland County 62 kmPierce County 71 kmMason County 79 kmThurston County 94 kmSkagit County 95 kmJefferson County 97 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
9:50 am PDT on 19 September 2024 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) west of Kirkland, WA · earthquakes near Kirkland
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
28 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 31 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, 6 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 784 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Kirkland, 2 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: Inglewood-Finn Hill, Yarrow Point, Clyde Hill, Medina, Kenmore, Bellevue.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 27,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 42 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 50 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 28 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 31 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 39 km NNE 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 47.6840, -122.2385. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 31 km (19 mi) W earthquakes near Kitsap County
King County, WA 37 km (23 mi) SE earthquakes near King County
Snohomish County, WA 54 km (34 mi) NE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Island County, WA 62 km (38 mi) NNW earthquakes near Island County
Pierce County, WA 71 km (44 mi) S earthquakes near Pierce County
Mason County, WA 79 km (49 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mason County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 1 km ESE of Inglewood-Finn Hill, Washington
  2. 1.9 2 km E of Tracyton, Washington
  3. 1.8 2 km ENE of Tracyton, Washington
  4. 1.8 3 km E of Tracyton, Washington
  5. 1.8 3 km NNW of Enetai, Washington
  6. 3.3 8 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  7. 1.5 2 km NNW of Enetai, Washington
  8. 2.8 0 km ENE of Tracyton, Washington
  9. 1.6 2 km NNW of Enetai, Washington
  10. 2.3 1 km NE of Lakeland North, Washington
  11. 2.4 8 km ENE of Fall City, Washington
  12. 3.4 6 km SSE of Lea Hill, Washington
  13. 1.5 2 km SSW of Monroe, Washington
  14. 2.1 7 km ENE of Fall City, Washington
  15. 1.6 1 km NE of Enetai, 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.