QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Bremerton, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bremerton in the 24 hours to 6:18 am PST (14:18 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 20 km (12 mi) SSW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bremerton

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.6 explosion was recorded 36 km (22 mi) northwest of Bremerton, WA, at 4:07 pm PST on 12 February 2026 (00:07 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 3 km W of Quilcene, Washington

49 km (30 mi) WNW of Seattle, WA · 44 km (27 mi) W of Shoreline, WA

4:07 pm PST, Feb 12, 2026 · · -0.2 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 29 kmIsland County 42 kmJefferson County 45 kmMason County 56 kmSan Juan County 77 kmClallam County 79 kmKing County 90 kmSnohomish County 90 kmThurston County 99 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
4:07 pm PST on 12 February 2026 ()
Where
36 km (22 mi) northwest of Bremerton, WA · earthquakes near Bremerton
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 29 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Seattle fault, 25 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 273 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Bremerton, 36 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Bangor Trident Base, Lofall, Port Ludlow, Seabeck, Poulsbo, Port Hadlock-Irondale.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

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 4.3 on 2023-10-09 — about 12,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 6 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 47.8225, -122.9262. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 29 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Kitsap County
Island County, WA 42 km (26 mi) NNE earthquakes near Island County
Jefferson County, WA 45 km (28 mi) W earthquakes near Jefferson County
Mason County, WA 56 km (35 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mason County
San Juan County, WA 77 km (48 mi) N earthquakes near San Juan County
Clallam County, WA 79 km (49 mi) WNW earthquakes near Clallam County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.4 8 km SW of Camano, Washington
  2. 0.8 6 km SSE of Hansville, Washington
  3. 0.6 6 km ESE of Quilcene, Washington
  4. 0.6 3 km SSW of Bainbridge Island, Washington
  5. 1.9 1 km SE of Belfair, Washington
  6. 0.7 0 km SSW of Chico, Washington
  7. 0.9 5 km NNW of Bangor Trident Base, Washington
  8. 1.1 7 km NNW of Bangor Trident Base, Washington
  9. 0.5 3 km ESE of Quilcene, Washington
  10. 0.7 7 km NNE of Brinnon, Washington
  11. 1.1 4 km WSW of Chico, Washington
  12. 0.8 2 km W of Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Washington
  13. 0.7 3 km W of Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Washington
  14. 1.3 7 km ESE of Bainbridge Island, Washington
  15. 0.2 6 km E of Quilcene, 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.