Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.4ml
Earthquake near Sudden Valley, WA
USGS: 5 km ENE of Sudden Valley, Washington
14 km (9 mi) E of Bellingham, WA · 125 km (78 mi) N of Seattle, WA
- When
- 9:27 pm PDT on 28 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) ENE of Sudden Valley, WA · earthquakes near Sudden Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.4 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Whatcom County, 34 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Boulder Creek-Canyon Creek fault, 21 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 3 days ago
A magnitude 1.4 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) ENE of Sudden Valley, WA, at 9:27 pm PDT on 28 September 2026 (04:27 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Geneva, Bellingham, Everson, Nooksack, Marietta-Alderwood, Marietta.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 240× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.4 about 3.9 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 4.5 on 2025-03-03 — about 43,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 San Juan Islands, Washington · 39 km W of this epicentre
- 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 4 km ENE of Deming, Washington · 14 km NE 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 48.7467, -122.2778. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whatcom County, WA | 34 km (21 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Whatcom County |
| Skagit County, WA | 44 km (27 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Skagit County |
| San Juan County, WA | 66 km (41 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Juan County |
| Island County, WA | 72 km (44 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Island County |
| Snohomish County, WA | 86 km (53 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Snohomish County |
| Clallam County, WA | 138 km (86 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Clallam County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.