QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Monroe, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Monroe in the 24 hours to 4:30 am PST (12:30 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 76 km (47 mi) SW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Monroe

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) south of Monroe, WA, at 1:42 am PDT on 15 March 2026 (08:42 UTC), 27 km deep.

USGS: 3 km S of Monroe, Washington

36 km (23 mi) NE of Seattle, WA · 18 km (11 mi) ENE of Bothell, WA

1:42 am PDT, Mar 15, 2026 · · 27 km deep · released about 26 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Snohomish County 30 kmKing County 39 kmKitsap County 55 kmIsland County 64 kmSkagit County 75 kmPierce County 87 kmChelan County 101 kmMason County 104 kmSan Juan County 113 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
1:42 am PDT on 15 March 2026 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) south of Monroe, WA · earthquakes near Monroe
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
27 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Snohomish County, 30 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island 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 242 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 Monroe, 3 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: Monroe North, Woods Creek, Duvall, Cathcart, Maltby, Clearview.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 26 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 5.8 580,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 410,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 36× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 26 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 8,500 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 10 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 14 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 19 km N 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 47.8267, -121.9747. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Snohomish County, WA 30 km (19 mi) NNE earthquakes near Snohomish County
King County, WA 39 km (24 mi) SSE earthquakes near King County
Kitsap County, WA 55 km (34 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kitsap County
Island County, WA 64 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County
Skagit County, WA 75 km (47 mi) N earthquakes near Skagit County
Pierce County, WA 87 km (54 mi) S earthquakes near Pierce County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.2 10 km E of Carnation, Washington
  2. 1.2 13 km SE of Verlot, Washington
  3. 1.0 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  4. 1.4 1 km SW of Everett, Washington
  5. 1.1 3 km NNW of Fall City, Washington
  6. 1.2 4 km ENE of Mirrormont, Washington
  7. 1.6 0 km NE of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  8. 1.7 2 km E of Granite Falls, Washington
  9. 1.2 1 km NW of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
  10. 1.7 0 km W of Lake Stickney, Washington
  11. 2.1 10 km ENE of Fall City, Washington
  12. 1.0 5 km WSW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  13. 2.4 5 km SW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  14. 1.1 2 km NW of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
  15. 0.8 4 km E of Carnation, 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.