QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Ault Field, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Ault Field in the 24 hours to 6:31 pm PST (02:31 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 104 km (65 mi) S, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ault Field

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Ault Field, WA, at 10:46 am PDT on 13 May 2025 (17:46 UTC), 29 km deep.

USGS: 4 km WSW of Ault Field, Washington

84 km (52 mi) NNW of Seattle, WA · 51 km (32 mi) WNW of Marysville, WA

10:46 am PDT, May 13, 2025 · · 29 km deep · released about 38 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Island County 19 kmSan Juan County 34 kmSkagit County 70 kmKitsap County 77 kmSnohomish County 78 kmJefferson County 83 kmWhatcom County 88 kmClallam County 89 kmMason County 113 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
10:46 am PDT on 13 May 2025 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Ault Field, WA · earthquakes near Ault Field
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
29 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Island County, 19 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Utsalady Point fault, under 1 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 541 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 Ault Field, 5 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: Oak Harbor, Coupeville, Anacortes, Camano, Port Townsend, Stanwood.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 38 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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 4.5 on 2025-03-03 — about 4,400 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 San Juan Islands, Washington · 42 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 22 km E 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 48.3263, -122.7350. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Island County, WA 19 km (12 mi) SSE earthquakes near Island County
San Juan County, WA 34 km (21 mi) NW earthquakes near San Juan County
Skagit County, WA 70 km (44 mi) ENE earthquakes near Skagit County
Kitsap County, WA 77 km (48 mi) S earthquakes near Kitsap County
Snohomish County, WA 78 km (48 mi) ESE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Jefferson County, WA 83 km (51 mi) SW earthquakes near Jefferson 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 3 km SE of Alger, Washington
  2. 1.5 4 km NW of Tulalip Bay, Washington
  3. 1.6 2 km SSW of Clinton, Washington
  4. 1.7 3 km SSW of Clinton, Washington
  5. 2.0 3 km SSW of Clinton, Washington
  6. 1.6 4 km SSE of Mount Vernon, Washington
  7. 2.7 12 km WSW of Anacortes, Washington
  8. 1.6 2 km SW of Port Ludlow, Washington
  9. 1.8 8 km W of Ault Field, Washington
  10. 1.7 8 km NNW of Freeland, Washington
  11. 2.3 1 km NNE of La Conner, Washington
  12. 1.9 3 km E of Bay View, Washington
  13. 1.5 3 km SSE of Port Ludlow, Washington
  14. 2.1 4 km SE of Mount Vernon, Washington
  15. 2.0 4 km WNW of Edison, 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.