QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 0.1md

Earthquake near South Hill, WA

USGS: 16 km NNE of Ashford, Washington

88 km (55 mi) SSE of Seattle, WA · 51 km (32 mi) SSE of Auburn, WA

6:21 pm PDT, Sep 30, 2026 · · 9.3 km deep · released about 0.051 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pierce County 26 kmLewis County 49 kmKing County 67 kmThurston County 70 kmSkamania County 96 kmCowlitz County 97 kmKittitas County 98 kmKitsap County 100 kmYakima County 102 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
6:21 pm PDT on 30 September 2026 ()
Where
39 km (24 mi) SE of South Hill, WA · earthquakes near South Hill
Magnitude
M 0.1 (md)
Depth
9.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pierce County, 26 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2 days ago

A magnitude 0.1 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) SE of South Hill, WA, at 6:21 pm PDT on 30 September 2026 (01:21 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Crocker, Eatonville.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.051 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 1.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 0.1 about 0.051 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

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 46.8880, -121.9152. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pierce County, WA 26 km (16 mi) NW earthquakes near Pierce County
Lewis County, WA 49 km (31 mi) SW earthquakes near Lewis County
King County, WA 67 km (42 mi) N earthquakes near King County
Thurston County, WA 70 km (43 mi) W earthquakes near Thurston County
Skamania County, WA 96 km (60 mi) S earthquakes near Skamania County
Cowlitz County, WA 97 km (60 mi) SW earthquakes near Cowlitz County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.9 2 km SW of Ashford, Washington
  2. 0.5 13 km SE of Carbonado, Washington
  3. 0.3 15 km SSE of Carbonado, 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.

Revisions

USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.

What changedFromToWhen
longitude-121.91-121.92
latitude46.8946.89
depth9.389.25
magnitude0.470.15
location18 km NE of Ashford, Washington16 km NNE of Ashford, Washington
longitude-121.89-121.91
latitude46.8946.89
depth0.829.38

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.