explosion · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.1ml
Earthquake near Shelton, WA
USGS: 11 km S of Shelton, Washington
78 km (49 mi) SW of Seattle, WA · 15 km (10 mi) WNW of Olympia, WA
- When
- 11:29 am PDT on 30 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) S of Shelton, WA · earthquakes near Shelton
- Magnitude
- M 1.1 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Thurston County, 27 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Olympia structure, 4 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 2 days ago
A magnitude 1.1 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) S of Shelton, WA, at 11:29 am PDT on 30 September 2026 (18:29 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Olympia, McCleary, Tumwater, Lacey, Tanglewilde, Tanglewilde-Thompson Place.
USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.5 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 10,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 640× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.1 about 1.5 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 4.2 on 2026-09-29 — about 34,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 26 km E of this epicentre
- 6.7 4 km WNW of Roy, Washington · 38 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 40 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 23 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.8 8 km N of Satsop, Washington · 30 km W 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 47.1098, -123.0718. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thurston County, WA | 27 km (17 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Thurston County |
| Mason County, WA | 28 km (17 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mason County |
| Grays Harbor County, WA | 57 km (35 mi) | W | earthquakes near Grays Harbor County |
| Kitsap County, WA | 67 km (42 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Pierce County, WA | 70 km (43 mi) | E | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| Lewis County, WA | 79 km (49 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Lewis 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.