QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Mount Vernon, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Mount Vernon in the 24 hours to 3:38 pm PST (23:38 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 2 km (1 mi) ENE, at 9:17 pm PDT on 11 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 10 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Mount Vernon

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) west of Mount Vernon, WA, at 4:17 pm PDT on 12 October 2025 (23:17 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 4 km W of Mount Vernon, Washington

89 km (55 mi) N of Seattle, WA · 37 km (23 mi) S of Bellingham, WA

4:17 pm PDT, Oct 12, 2025 · · 10 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mount Vernon Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Island County 36 kmSkagit County 43 kmSan Juan County 54 kmSnohomish County 62 kmWhatcom County 62 kmKitsap County 89 kmJefferson County 109 kmKing County 112 kmClallam County 116 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
4:17 pm PDT on 12 October 2025 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) west of Mount Vernon, WA · earthquakes near Mount Vernon
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Island County, 36 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Utsalady Point fault, 19 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 380 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Mount Vernon, 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.

Likely felt in: Mount Vernon 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 14,000 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 · 43 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 10 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 4 km ENE of Deming, Washington · 50 km NNE 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 48.4220, -122.3888. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Island County, WA 36 km (22 mi) SW earthquakes near Island County
Skagit County, WA 43 km (27 mi) E earthquakes near Skagit County
San Juan County, WA 54 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near San Juan County
Snohomish County, WA 62 km (38 mi) SE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Whatcom County, WA 62 km (38 mi) NE earthquakes near Whatcom County
Kitsap County, WA 89 km (55 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kitsap County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.1 6 km NE of Oso, Washington
  2. 1.6 3 km WSW of Lake Cavanaugh, Washington
  3. 2.6 2 km ENE of Mount Vernon, Washington
  4. 1.8 15 km ESE of Acme, Washington
  5. 1.6 2 km ESE of Oak Harbor, Washington
  6. 1.9 2 km NNE of Lyman, Washington
  7. 1.6 2 km E of Oak Harbor, Washington
  8. 2.1 3 km E of Oak Harbor, Washington
  9. 1.7 3 km E of Oak Harbor, Washington
  10. 1.7 3 km N of Lyman, Washington
  11. 2.2 2 km N of Lyman, Washington
  12. 2.1 3 km ESE of Oak Harbor, Washington
  13. 1.5 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  14. 1.6 5 km N of Anacortes, Washington
  15. 2.1 3 km E of Oak Harbor, 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.