QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.2ml

Earthquake near Port Ludlow, WA

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.2 explosion was recorded 5 km (3 mi) SSW of Port Ludlow, WA, at 11:37 am PDT on 28 September 2026 (18:37 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

This was on 28 September 2026. The latest near Port Ludlow: M 2.9 on 15 September 2025.

USGS: 5 km SSW of Port Ludlow, Washington

40 km (25 mi) NW of Seattle, WA · 31 km (19 mi) WNW of Shoreline, WA

11:37 am PDT, Sep 28, 2026 · · -0.0 km deep · released about 2.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Port Ludlow Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kitsap County 28 kmIsland County 31 kmJefferson County 61 kmMason County 68 kmSnohomish County 73 kmSan Juan County 75 kmKing County 79 kmClallam County 91 kmSkagit County 95 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
11:37 am PDT on 28 September 2026 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) SSW of Port Ludlow, WA · earthquakes near Port Ludlow
Magnitude
M 1.2 (ml)
Depth
-0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kitsap County, 28 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, 18 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 14 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. 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: Lofall, Hansville, Poulsbo, Port Hadlock-Irondale, Bangor Trident Base, Kingston.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 450× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.2 about 2.1 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 42,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 23 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 47.8833, -122.7157. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kitsap County, WA 28 km (17 mi) S earthquakes near Kitsap County
Island County, WA 31 km (19 mi) N earthquakes near Island County
Jefferson County, WA 61 km (38 mi) W earthquakes near Jefferson County
Mason County, WA 68 km (43 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mason County
Snohomish County, WA 73 km (46 mi) ENE earthquakes near Snohomish County
San Juan County, WA 75 km (47 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Juan County

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

Aftershocks so far

14 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. 0.1 7 km NNE of Brinnon, Washington
  13. 1.4 1 km SW of Everett, Washington
  14. 1.0 3 km E of Bethel, 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.