QuakeIndex

explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.0md

Earthquake near Granite Falls, WA

No: USGS classifies this as a explosion, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.0 explosion was recorded 2 km (1 mi) ENE of Granite Falls, WA, at 2:30 pm PDT on 5 October 2026 (21:30 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

This was on 5 October 2026. The latest near Granite Falls: M 3.0 on 24 February 2026.

USGS: 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington

61 km (38 mi) NNE of Seattle, WA · 16 km (10 mi) E of Marysville, WA

2:30 pm PDT, Oct 5, 2026 · · -0.4 km deep · released about 0.83 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Snohomish County 14 kmSkagit County 46 kmIsland County 55 kmKing County 67 kmKitsap County 73 kmWhatcom County 84 kmSan Juan County 98 kmChelan County 102 kmPierce 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
2:30 pm PDT on 5 October 2026 ()
Where
2 km (1 mi) ENE of Granite Falls, WA · earthquakes near Granite Falls
Magnitude
M 1.0 (md)
Depth
-0.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Snohomish County, 14 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 8 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: Lochsloy, Sisco Heights, Lake Stevens, Machias, Arlington Heights, West Lake Stevens.

USGS catalogues this as explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.83 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.0 about 0.83 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 4.6 on 2019-07-12 — about 270,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 37 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 39 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 11 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 6 km W of Conway, Washington · 45 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 48.0905, -121.9403. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Snohomish County, WA 14 km (8 mi) ESE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Skagit County, WA 46 km (28 mi) NNE earthquakes near Skagit County
Island County, WA 55 km (34 mi) W earthquakes near Island County
King County, WA 67 km (42 mi) S earthquakes near King County
Kitsap County, WA 73 km (45 mi) SW earthquakes near Kitsap County
Whatcom County, WA 84 km (52 mi) N earthquakes near Whatcom County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.8 14 km SE of Verlot, Washington
  2. 0.9 3 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
  3. 0.9 13 km SE of Verlot, Washington
  4. 1.7 0 km NE of May Creek, Washington
  5. 1.2 13 km SE of Verlot, 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.