QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Seattle, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Seattle in the 24 hours to 5:36 pm PST (01:36 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 37 km (23 mi) SW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Seattle

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 37 km (23 mi) west-southwest of Seattle, WA, at 9:58 pm PST on 2 March 2026 (05:58 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 8 km W of Gorst, Washington

36 km (22 mi) WSW of Seattle, WA

9:58 pm PST, Mar 2, 2026 · · 18 km deep · released about 35 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Seattle Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 17 kmMason County 34 kmJefferson County 61 kmThurston County 67 kmIsland County 70 kmPierce County 74 kmKing County 74 kmGrays Harbor County 90 kmSnohomish County 97 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
9:58 pm PST on 2 March 2026 ()
Where
37 km (23 mi) west-southwest of Seattle, WA · earthquakes near Seattle
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 17 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Seattle fault, 2 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 254 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 Seattle, 37 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: Belfair, Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Seabeck, Chico, Navy Yard City, Rocky Point.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 35 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 440,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 310,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 28× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 35 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 1,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 44 km S of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 39 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 16 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 29 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 32 km NNW 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 47.5378, -122.8162. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 17 km (10 mi) NE earthquakes near Kitsap County
Mason County, WA 34 km (21 mi) SW earthquakes near Mason County
Jefferson County, WA 61 km (38 mi) WNW earthquakes near Jefferson County
Thurston County, WA 67 km (42 mi) S earthquakes near Thurston County
Island County, WA 70 km (43 mi) N earthquakes near Island County
Pierce County, WA 74 km (46 mi) SE earthquakes near Pierce County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.1 4 km WSW of Chico, Washington
  2. 0.8 2 km W of Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Washington
  3. 0.7 3 km W of Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Washington
  4. 1.3 7 km ESE of Bainbridge Island, Washington
  5. 0.2 6 km E of Quilcene, Washington
  6. 1.1 2 km ENE of Tracyton, Washington
  7. 2.0 2 km ENE of Tracyton, Washington
  8. 0.9 3 km N of Enetai, Washington
  9. 2.0 2 km E of Tracyton, Washington
  10. 1.8 2 km E of Tracyton, Washington
  11. 0.6 10 km SSW of Brinnon, Washington
  12. 1.5 3 km WSW of Hoodsport, Washington
  13. 0.1 7 km NNE of Brinnon, Washington
  14. 1.0 3 km E of Bethel, Washington
  15. 1.3 4 km WNW 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.