QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.7ml

8 km SSE of Oak Bay, Canada

Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 8 km SSE of Oak Bay, Canada, at 10:10 pm PDT on 2 October 2026 (05:10 UTC), 26 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

· 26 km deep · released about 9.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Juan County 19 kmIsland County 50 kmClallam County 55 kmJefferson County 66 kmKitsap County 94 kmSkagit County 108 kmMason County 114 kmSnohomish County 117 kmWhatcom County 117 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
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
26 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Juan County, 19 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 41 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Friday Harbor.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 98× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.7 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 in our catalogue was M 4.5 on 2025-03-03 — about 18,000 times the energy of this one.

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 48.3748, -123.2658. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Juan County, WA 19 km (12 mi) NE earthquakes near San Juan County
Island County, WA 50 km (31 mi) ESE earthquakes near Island County
Clallam County, WA 55 km (34 mi) WSW earthquakes near Clallam County
Jefferson County, WA 66 km (41 mi) SSW earthquakes near Jefferson County
Kitsap County, WA 94 km (58 mi) SSE earthquakes near Kitsap County
Skagit County, WA 108 km (67 mi) E earthquakes near Skagit County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.9 7 km W of Orcas, Washington
  2. 1.3 4 km NNW of Victoria, Canada
  3. 1.2 11 km SW of Friday Harbor, Washington
  4. 1.4 8 km SW of Port Angeles, Washington
  5. 1.8 2 km S of Colwood, Canada
  6. 0.7 3 km N of North Saanich, Canada
  7. 1.2 9 km NW of Friday Harbor, Washington
  8. 1.1 6 km W of Orcas, Washington
  9. 1.1 6 km W of Orcas, Washington
  10. 1.4 10 km WSW of Anacortes, Washington
  11. 1.5 3 km N of Langford, Canada
  12. 0.9 2 km ENE of Six Mile, Canada
  13. 0.5 11 km E of Orcas, Washington
  14. 0.4 6 km ENE of Oak Bay, Canada
  15. 1.2 7 km N of Six Mile, Canada

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.