QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Shelton, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Shelton in the 24 hours to 10:02 am PST (18:02 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 35 km (22 mi) NE, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Shelton

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) south of Shelton, WA, at 11:59 am PDT on 30 August 2025 (18:59 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 7 km S of Shelton, Washington

78 km (48 mi) SW of Seattle, WA · 20 km (13 mi) NW of Olympia, WA

11:59 am PDT, Aug 30, 2025 · · 18 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Shelton Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mason County 23 kmThurston County 32 kmGrays Harbor County 54 kmKitsap County 65 kmPierce County 73 kmJefferson County 80 kmPacific County 83 kmLewis County 84 kmWahkiakum County 98 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
11:59 am PDT on 30 August 2025 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) south of Shelton, WA · earthquakes near Shelton
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mason County, 23 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Olympia structure, 4 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 421 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 Shelton, 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: McCleary, Olympia, Tumwater, Lacey, Tanglewilde, Tanglewilde-Thompson Place.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 4.1 on 2017-02-23 — about 5,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 29 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 4 km WNW of Roy, Washington · 42 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 39 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 22 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 8 km N of Satsop, Washington · 28 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 47.1453, -123.1135. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mason County, WA 23 km (14 mi) N earthquakes near Mason County
Thurston County, WA 32 km (20 mi) SE earthquakes near Thurston County
Grays Harbor County, WA 54 km (34 mi) W earthquakes near Grays Harbor County
Kitsap County, WA 65 km (40 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 73 km (46 mi) E earthquakes near Pierce County
Jefferson County, WA 80 km (50 mi) NNW earthquakes near Jefferson County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.4 9 km ESE of McCleary, Washington
  2. 1.9 1 km SE of Belfair, Washington
  3. 0.9 5 km W of Fox Island, Washington
  4. 1.5 3 km WSW of Hoodsport, Washington
  5. 1.3 4 km WNW of Wauna, Washington
  6. 1.1 11 km S of Shelton, Washington
  7. 1.6 5 km W of Burley, Washington
  8. 1.9 6 km WNW of Wauna, Washington
  9. 1.3 4 km WNW of Wauna, Washington
  10. 4.2 6 km WNW of Wauna, Washington
  11. 1.0 6 km SE of McCleary, Washington
  12. 0.4 11 km NE of Hoodsport, Washington
  13. 0.7 9 km SSE of Shelton, Washington
  14. 1.6 6 km NE of Rochester, Washington
  15. 2.2 2 km WSW of Wauna, 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.