Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Fall City, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Fall City in the 24 hours to 3:26 pm PST (23:26 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 2.1 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Fall City, WA, at 2:04 pm PST on 20 January 2025 (22:04 UTC), 17 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 7 km ENE of Fall City, Washington
42 km (26 mi) E of Seattle, WA · 18 km (11 mi) E of Sammamish, WA
- When
- 2:04 pm PST on 20 January 2025 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) east-northeast of Fall City, WA · earthquakes near Fall City
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- 6 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- King County, 12 km SSW
- 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 593 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fall City, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Fall City, 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 1 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. 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, North Bend, Ames Lake, Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Tanner.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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 5,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 19 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 17 km N of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 49 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 47.6002, -121.7978. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| King County, WA | 12 km (8 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near King County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 51 km (31 mi) | N | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 64 km (40 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Pierce County, WA | 67 km (41 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| Island County, WA | 90 km (56 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
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 1 km NE of Esperance, Washington
- 1.6 4 km WSW of Skykomish, Washington
- 1.5 1 km NE of Wilburton, Washington
- 1.7 0 km W of Beaux Arts Village, Washington
- 1.6 10 km ENE of Snoqualmie, Washington
- 1.7 4 km S of Monroe, Washington
- 1.6 9 km ENE of Snoqualmie, Washington
- 2.2 4 km ESE of Enumclaw, Washington
- 2.1 10 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
- 1.9 1 km NNW of Maple Valley, Washington
- 1.6 5 km SE of Enumclaw, Washington
- 2.8 3 km NE of Fall City, Washington
- 1.6 3 km WSW of Sammamish, Washington
- 1.9 1 km SSE of Echo Lake, Washington
- 2.3 7 km NE of Snoqualmie, 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.