QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Ames Lake, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Ames Lake in the 24 hours to 2:35 am PST (10:35 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 62 km (39 mi) WSW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Ames Lake

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Ames Lake, WA, at 8:22 pm PST on 21 January 2026 (04:22 UTC), 27 km deep. 289 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2 km NNW of Ames Lake, Washington

28 km (17 mi) E of Seattle, WA · 8 km (5 mi) NE of Sammamish, WA

8:22 pm PST, Jan 21, 2026 · · 27 km deep · released about 990 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ames Lake Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 21 kmSnohomish County 48 kmKitsap County 50 kmPierce County 68 kmIsland County 77 kmSkagit County 95 kmMason County 96 kmThurston County 102 kmChelan County 104 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
8:22 pm PST on 21 January 2026 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of Ames Lake, WA · earthquakes near Ames Lake
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
289 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
King County, 21 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Rattlesnake Mountain fault, under 1 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 204 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Ames Lake, 2 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: City of Sammamish 7 km, intensity II · Sammamish 8 km, intensity II · Redmond 11 km, intensity II · Fall City 11 km, intensity II · West Lake Sammamish 12 km, intensity II · Issaquah 14 km, intensity II · Bellevue 17 km, intensity II · Kirkland 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 990 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 340,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 15,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 990 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 4.6 on 2019-07-12 — about 230 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 48 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 15 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 16 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 39 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 41 km SW 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 47.6493, -121.9792. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 21 km (13 mi) SSE earthquakes near King County
Snohomish County, WA 48 km (30 mi) NNE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Kitsap County, WA 50 km (31 mi) W earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 68 km (42 mi) S earthquakes near Pierce County
Island County, WA 77 km (48 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County
Skagit County, WA 95 km (59 mi) N earthquakes near Skagit County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 4 km SW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  2. 1.7 10 km ESE of Riverbend, Washington
  3. 2.1 4 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  4. 1.6 1 km NNE of Maple Valley, Washington
  5. 1.7 2 km NNE of May Creek, Washington
  6. 1.5 5 km SSW of Monroe, Washington
  7. 1.5 2 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
  8. 1.5 2 km WNW of Ames Lake, Washington
  9. 1.9 6 km SSE of Lea Hill, Washington
  10. 1.5 5 km WSW of Mercer Island, Washington
  11. 2.2 10 km NNE of Startup, Washington
  12. 1.5 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  13. 1.6 15 km ENE of Tanner, Washington
  14. 1.6 3 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
  15. 1.6 2 km SSW of Lake Forest Park, 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.