QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Fall City, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Fall City in the 24 hours to 1:48 pm PST (21:48 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 65 km (41 mi) WSW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fall City

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) northeast of Fall City, WA, at 9:11 am PST on 10 January 2025 (17:11 UTC), 16 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 7 km NE of Fall City, Washington

41 km (25 mi) E of Seattle, WA · 17 km (11 mi) E of Sammamish, WA

9:11 am PST, Jan 10, 2025 · · 16 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 13 kmSnohomish County 50 kmKitsap County 63 kmPierce County 67 kmIsland County 89 kmChelan County 93 kmSkagit County 98 kmKittitas County 101 kmMason County 106 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
9:11 am PST on 10 January 2025 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) northeast of Fall City, WA · earthquakes near Fall City
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
King County, 13 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Rattlesnake Mountain fault, 7 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 603 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 Fall City, 8 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: Snoqualmie, Carnation, Ames Lake, Lake Marcel-Stillwater, North Bend, Tanner.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 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 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 14,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 18 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 16 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 48 km WSW 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 47.6077, -121.8080. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 13 km (8 mi) S earthquakes near King County
Snohomish County, WA 50 km (31 mi) N earthquakes near Snohomish County
Kitsap County, WA 63 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 67 km (42 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pierce County
Island County, WA 89 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County
Chelan County, WA 93 km (58 mi) ENE earthquakes near Chelan County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 1 km NE of Esperance, Washington
  2. 1.6 4 km WSW of Skykomish, Washington
  3. 1.5 1 km NE of Wilburton, Washington
  4. 1.7 0 km W of Beaux Arts Village, Washington
  5. 1.6 10 km ENE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  6. 1.7 4 km S of Monroe, Washington
  7. 1.6 9 km ENE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  8. 2.2 4 km ESE of Enumclaw, Washington
  9. 2.1 10 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  10. 1.9 1 km NNW of Maple Valley, Washington
  11. 2.8 3 km NE of Fall City, Washington
  12. 1.6 3 km WSW of Sammamish, Washington
  13. 1.9 1 km SSE of Echo Lake, Washington
  14. 2.3 7 km NE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  15. 2.2 2 km SSE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, 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.