Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.0ml
Earthquake near Bethel, WA
USGS: 3 km E of Bethel, Washington
22 km (14 mi) SW of Seattle, WA · 18 km (11 mi) W of Burien, WA
- When
- 9:28 pm PDT on 1 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 4 km (2 mi) E of Bethel, WA · earthquakes near Bethel
- Magnitude
- M 1.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kitsap County, 16 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Seattle fault, 6 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 9 hours ago
A magnitude 1.0 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) E of Bethel, WA, at 9:28 pm PDT on 1 October 2026 (04:28 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: East Port Orchard, Parkwood, Port Orchard, Southworth, Manchester, Bremerton.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 0.86 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1,100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.0 about 0.86 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 59,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 40 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 23 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 17 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 34 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.3 Eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 46 km NW 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 47.5002, -122.5847. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitsap County, WA | 16 km (10 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kitsap County |
| Mason County, WA | 47 km (29 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mason County |
| King County, WA | 56 km (35 mi) | E | earthquakes near King County |
| Pierce County, WA | 60 km (37 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Pierce County |
| Thurston County, WA | 65 km (41 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Thurston County |
| Island County, WA | 73 km (46 mi) | N | earthquakes near Island County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further earthquakes have 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.