QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5ml

Earthquake near Snoqualmie, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Snoqualmie in the 24 hours to 1:03 am PST (09:03 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 12 km (8 mi) S, at 6:09 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 46 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Snoqualmie

This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Snoqualmie, WA, at 1:35 pm PST on 20 January 2025 (21:35 UTC), 17 km deep. 1,316 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 9 km NE of Snoqualmie, Washington

45 km (28 mi) E of Seattle, WA · 21 km (13 mi) E of Sammamish, WA

1:35 pm PST, Jan 20, 2025 · · 17 km deep · released about 2.8 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 14 kmSnohomish County 51 kmKitsap County 67 kmPierce County 68 kmChelan County 90 kmIsland County 92 kmKittitas County 97 kmSkagit County 99 kmThurston County 110 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
1:35 pm PST on 20 January 2025 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) northeast of Snoqualmie, WA · earthquakes near Snoqualmie
Magnitude
M 3.5 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
1,316 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
King County, 14 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Rattlesnake Mountain fault, 9 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 563 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 62 km (39 mi) from the epicentre. In Snoqualmie, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Snoqualmie 10 km, intensity III · Fall City 11 km, intensity III · City of Sammamish 21 km, intensity II · Issaquah 22 km, intensity II · Sammamish 25 km, intensity II · West Lake Sammamish 26 km, intensity II · Redmond 29 km, intensity II · Maple Valley 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 61,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.8 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.8× more

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 40 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 20 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 18 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 48 km NNW 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 47.6003, -121.7538. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 14 km (8 mi) SSW earthquakes near King County
Snohomish County, WA 51 km (31 mi) N earthquakes near Snohomish County
Kitsap County, WA 67 km (42 mi) W earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 68 km (42 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pierce County
Chelan County, WA 90 km (56 mi) ENE earthquakes near Chelan County
Island County, WA 92 km (57 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

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