QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Point Roberts, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Point Roberts in the 24 hours to 7:43 pm PST (03:43 UTC). The last one was M 4.5, 46 km (29 mi) SSE, at 5:02 am PST on 3 March 2025, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 11,411 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Point Roberts

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south of Point Roberts, WA, at 10:47 pm PDT on 14 September 2025 (05:47 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 10 km S of Point Roberts, Washington

46 km (29 mi) WNW of Bellingham, WA · 121 km (75 mi) NNW of Everett, WA

10:47 pm PDT, Sep 14, 2025 · · 15 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Point Roberts Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Juan County 42 kmIsland County 86 kmWhatcom County 90 kmSkagit County 102 kmClallam County 105 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
10:47 pm PDT on 14 September 2025 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) south of Point Roberts, WA · earthquakes near Point Roberts
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Juan County, 42 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Sandy Point fault, 18 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 423 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 Point Roberts, 11 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: Birch Bay, Blaine.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 11,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 San Juan Islands, Washington · 29 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 21 km SSE of Point Roberts, Washington · 11 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 10 km ESE of Salt Spring Island, Canada · 23 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 48.8875, -123.0688. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Juan County, WA 42 km (26 mi) S earthquakes near San Juan County
Island County, WA 86 km (54 mi) SSE earthquakes near Island County
Whatcom County, WA 90 km (56 mi) E earthquakes near Whatcom County
Skagit County, WA 102 km (63 mi) ESE earthquakes near Skagit County
Clallam County, WA 105 km (66 mi) SW earthquakes near Clallam County
Snohomish County, WA 133 km (83 mi) SE earthquakes near Snohomish County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.9 7 km W of Orcas, Washington
  2. 1.2 11 km SW of Friday Harbor, Washington
  3. 1.1 1 km WSW of Marietta, Washington
  4. 0.7 3 km N of North Saanich, Canada
  5. 1.2 9 km NW of Friday Harbor, Washington
  6. 1.1 6 km W of Orcas, Washington
  7. 1.1 6 km W of Orcas, Washington
  8. 0.5 11 km E of Orcas, Washington
  9. 0.4 6 km ENE of Oak Bay, Canada
  10. 1.2 7 km N of Six Mile, Canada
  11. 1.4 10 km WSW of Friday Harbor, Washington
  12. 0.3 13 km WSW of Marietta, Washington
  13. 1.6 5 km N of Anacortes, Washington
  14. 1.6 8 km WNW of Orcas, Washington
  15. 1.7 8 km WNW of Orcas, 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.