QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.2ml

Earthquake near Carnation, WA

Yes. A magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) E of Carnation, WA, at 11:43 pm PDT on 7 October 2026 (06:43 UTC), 9.0 km deep.

This was on 7 October 2026. The latest near Carnation: M 2.5 on 26 June 2026.

USGS: 10 km E of Carnation, Washington

44 km (27 mi) E of Seattle, WA · 21 km (13 mi) ENE of Sammamish, WA

11:43 pm PDT, Oct 7, 2026 · · 9.0 km deep · released about 1.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 18 kmSnohomish County 45 kmKitsap County 66 kmPierce County 72 kmIsland County 88 kmChelan County 89 kmSkagit County 94 kmKittitas County 101 kmMason County 110 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
11:43 pm PDT on 7 October 2026 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) E of Carnation, WA · earthquakes near Carnation
Magnitude
M 1.2 (ml)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
King County, 18 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, 8 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 5 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: Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Fall City, Snoqualmie, Ames Lake, North Bend, Duvall.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 520× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.2 about 1.8 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 120,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 15 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 12 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 43 km NNW 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 47.6493, -121.7713. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 18 km (11 mi) SSW earthquakes near King County
Snohomish County, WA 45 km (28 mi) N earthquakes near Snohomish County
Kitsap County, WA 66 km (41 mi) W earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 72 km (45 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pierce County
Island County, WA 88 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County
Chelan County, WA 89 km (55 mi) ENE earthquakes near Chelan County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.0 4 km WSW of Ravensdale, Washington
  2. 1.1 4 km NNE of Tanner, Washington
  3. 0.8 14 km SE of Verlot, Washington
  4. 1.8 6 km WSW of Wilderness Rim, Washington
  5. 0.9 3 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
  6. 0.9 13 km SE of Verlot, Washington
  7. 1.7 0 km NE of May Creek, Washington
  8. 1.0 1 km NNW of Maple Valley, 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.