Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.5ml
Earthquake near Bellingham, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bellingham in the 24 hours to 6:25 am PST (14:25 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 53 km (33 mi) S, at 11:35 pm PDT on 1 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2,030 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bellingham
This page: a magnitude 4.5 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) southwest of Bellingham, WA, at 5:02 am PST on 3 March 2025 (13:02 UTC), 16 km deep. 11,411 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2025 Orcas Island, Washington
29 km (18 mi) WSW of Bellingham, WA · 115 km (72 mi) NNW of Seattle, WA
- When
- 5:02 am PST on 3 March 2025 ()
- Where
- 29 km (18 mi) southwest of Bellingham, WA · earthquakes near Bellingham
- Magnitude
- M 4.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 16 km below the surface
- Felt
- 11,411 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- San Juan County, 25 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Sandy Point fault, 20 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 118 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bellingham, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bellingham, 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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 138 km (86 mi) from the epicentre. In Bellingham, 29 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: Friday Harbor 18 km, intensity IV · Anacortes 18 km, intensity IV · Bellingham 29 km, intensity III · Oak Harbor 37 km, intensity III · Mount Vernon 41 km, intensity III · Sedro-Woolley 44 km, intensity III · Coupeville 44 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 85 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.5 about 85 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 180× 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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. No other earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded this close in that time.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 San Juan Islands, Washington · 10 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 21 km SSE of Point Roberts, Washington · 25 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.1 10 km ESE of Salt Spring Island, Canada · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 41 km SE 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 48.6112, -122.8052. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan County, WA | 25 km (15 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Island County, WA | 51 km (32 mi) | S | earthquakes near Island County |
| Skagit County, WA | 74 km (46 mi) | E | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| Whatcom County, WA | 76 km (47 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Whatcom County |
| Clallam County, WA | 98 km (61 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Clallam County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 99 km (61 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.7 5 km N of Anacortes, Washington
- 1.8 4 km SSW of Anacortes, Washington
- 1.5 7 km WNW of Friday Harbor, Washington
- 1.6 3 km SE of Alger, Washington
- 1.6 4 km SSE of Mount Vernon, Washington
- 2.7 12 km WSW of Anacortes, Washington
- 1.9 10 km ESE of Salt Spring Island, Canada
- 1.8 8 km W of Ault Field, Washington
- 2.3 1 km NNE of La Conner, Washington
- 1.9 3 km E of Bay View, Washington
- 2.1 4 km SE of Mount Vernon, Washington
- 2.0 4 km WNW of Edison, Washington
- 2.2 2 km NNE of La Conner, Washington
- 1.8 9 km WNW of White Rock, Canada
- 2.1 2 km NNE of La Conner, 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.