Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Vashon, WA
No earthquake was likely felt in Vashon in the 24 hours to 4:57 am PST (12:57 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 20 km (13 mi) WSW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vashon
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) northeast of Vashon, WA, at 12:13 pm PDT on 15 August 2025 (19:13 UTC), 22 km deep.
USGS: 4 km NE of Vashon, Washington
17 km (10 mi) SSW of Seattle, WA · 6 km (4 mi) W of Burien, WA
- When
- 12:13 pm PDT on 15 August 2025 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) northeast of Vashon, WA · earthquakes near Vashon
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 22 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kitsap County, 24 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Seattle fault, 6 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 449 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Vashon, WA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Vashon, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Vashon, 4 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: Burien, Southworth, White Center, Normandy Park, Boulevard Park, Riverton.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 51 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 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 43 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 17 km S of this epicentre
- 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 26 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 42 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 11 km SSE 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 47.4798, -122.4270. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitsap County, WA | 24 km (15 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| King County, WA | 45 km (28 mi) | E | earthquakes near King County |
| Pierce County, WA | 52 km (32 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| Mason County, WA | 58 km (36 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mason County |
| Thurston County, WA | 68 km (42 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Thurston County |
| Island County, WA | 78 km (48 mi) | NNW | 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.
- 1.8 1 km S of Shoreline, Washington
- 2.4 3 km ENE of Belfair, Washington
- 1.9 1 km WSW of Manchester, Washington
- 2.9 2 km W of Home, Washington
- 2.0 8 km W of Gorst, Washington
- 3.0 4 km ESE of Cathcart, Washington
- 1.9 0 km SE of Enetai, Washington
- 1.6 1 km E of Clyde Hill, Washington
- 1.5 5 km WSW of Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Washington
- 1.5 0 km ESE of Browns Point, Washington
- 2.1 5 km S of Gorst, Washington
- 1.7 11 km NW of Belfair, Washington
- 1.6 2 km E of Enetai, Washington
- 2.6 1 km ENE of Enetai, Washington
- 3.0 2 km NNW of Ames 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
- 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.