QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Cathcart, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Cathcart in the 24 hours to 4:50 am PST (12:50 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 68 km (42 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 Cathcart

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Cathcart, WA, at 4:51 pm PDT on 22 June 2026 (23:51 UTC), 21 km deep.

USGS: 4 km ESE of Cathcart, Washington

14 km (9 mi) ENE of Bothell, WA · 33 km (21 mi) NE of Seattle, WA

4:51 pm PDT, Jun 22, 2026 · · 21 km deep · released about 5.9 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Snohomish County 32 kmKing County 41 kmKitsap County 50 kmIsland County 59 kmSkagit County 75 kmPierce County 88 kmMason County 100 kmChelan County 106 kmSan Juan County 108 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
4:51 pm PDT on 22 June 2026 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Cathcart, WA · earthquakes near Cathcart
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Snohomish County, 32 km NE
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 142 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 Cathcart, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Monroe, Clearview, Maltby, Monroe North, Silver Firs, Snohomish.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 38,000 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 · 15 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 19 km ESE 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 47.8353, -122.0442. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Snohomish County, WA 32 km (20 mi) NE earthquakes near Snohomish County
King County, WA 41 km (26 mi) SSE earthquakes near King County
Kitsap County, WA 50 km (31 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kitsap County
Island County, WA 59 km (37 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County
Skagit County, WA 75 km (47 mi) NNE earthquakes near Skagit County
Pierce County, WA 88 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

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

  1. 1.3 7 km NE of Fall City, Washington
  2. 0.8 0 km ESE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  3. 0.8 6 km SSE of Hansville, Washington
  4. 0.8 4 km SW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  5. 1.3 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  6. 0.6 3 km SSW of Bainbridge Island, Washington
  7. 1.2 14 km E of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
  8. 1.3 6 km WSW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  9. 1.1 7 km WSW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  10. 2.6 5 km SW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  11. 1.4 6 km SW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  12. 1.8 6 km WSW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  13. 1.0 6 km WSW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  14. 1.3 13 km SE of Verlot, Washington
  15. 2.6 5 km WSW of Wilderness Rim, 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.