QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 0.3ml

Earthquake near Tacoma, WA

USGS: 15 km SSE of Carbonado, Washington

80 km (49 mi) SSE of Seattle, WA · 43 km (27 mi) SSE of Auburn, WA

1:06 pm PDT, Oct 1, 2026 · · 8.3 km deep · released about 0.082 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Pierce County 16 kmLewis County 49 kmKing County 62 kmThurston County 63 kmKitsap County 91 kmCowlitz County 98 kmMason County 99 kmSkamania County 102 kmKittitas County 103 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
1:06 pm PDT on 1 October 2026 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) SE of Tacoma, WA · earthquakes near Tacoma
Magnitude
M 0.3 (ml)
Depth
8.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Pierce County, 16 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 30 hours ago

A magnitude 0.3 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) SE of Tacoma, WA, at 1:06 pm PDT on 1 October 2026 (20:06 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, Orting, Prairie Heights, Prairie Ridge, Buckley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.082 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 1.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 0.3 about 0.082 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 lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.7 4 km WNW of Roy, Washington · 45 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 46.9428, -122.0065. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Pierce County, WA 16 km (10 mi) NW earthquakes near Pierce County
Lewis County, WA 49 km (31 mi) SW earthquakes near Lewis County
King County, WA 62 km (39 mi) NNE earthquakes near King County
Thurston County, WA 63 km (39 mi) W earthquakes near Thurston County
Kitsap County, WA 91 km (57 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kitsap County
Cowlitz County, WA 98 km (61 mi) SSW earthquakes near Cowlitz County

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

Aftershocks so far

2 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

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.