QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.2ml

Earthquake near Lake Marcel-Stillwater, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lake Marcel-Stillwater in the 24 hours to 3:23 am PST (11:23 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 69 km (43 mi) WSW, at 2:05 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 9,329 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lake Marcel-Stillwater

This page: a magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) east of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, WA, at 1:55 pm PDT on 15 October 2026 (20:55 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 14 km E of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington

48 km (30 mi) E of Seattle, WA · 26 km (16 mi) ENE of Sammamish, WA

1:55 pm PDT, Oct 15, 2026 · · 16 km deep · released about 2.2 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 24 kmSnohomish County 41 kmKitsap County 70 kmPierce County 78 kmChelan County 85 kmIsland County 88 kmSkagit County 90 kmKittitas County 101 kmMason County 115 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
1:55 pm PDT on 15 October 2026 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) east of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, WA · earthquakes near Lake Marcel-Stillwater
Magnitude
M 1.2 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
King County, 24 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Whidbey Island fault, 11 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 29 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: Carnation, Fall City, Gold Bar, Ames Lake, Snoqualmie, Sultan.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.2 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 6,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 440× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.2 about 2.2 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 100,000 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 · 14 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 10 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 40 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 47.6898, -121.7223. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 24 km (15 mi) SSW earthquakes near King County
Snohomish County, WA 41 km (25 mi) N earthquakes near Snohomish County
Kitsap County, WA 70 km (43 mi) W earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 78 km (49 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pierce County
Chelan County, WA 85 km (53 mi) ENE earthquakes near Chelan County
Island County, WA 88 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.3 2 km N of Union Hill-Novelty Hill, Washington
  2. 1.5 6 km ESE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington
  3. 2.0 18 km ENE of Tanner, Washington
  4. 1.5 12 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  5. 0.6 7 km ESE of Carnation, Washington
  6. 1.1 10 km E of Carnation, Washington
  7. 1.1 2 km NNW of Mirrormont, Washington
  8. 1.0 0 km ESE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  9. 1.0 10 km NE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  10. 1.6 11 km NE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  11. 2.6 2 km ENE of Granite Falls, Washington
  12. 0.9 7 km E of Hobart, Washington
  13. 1.2 2 km ENE of May Creek, Washington
  14. 1.0 1 km E of Ames Lake, Washington
  15. 0.9 3 km SE of Woods Creek, 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.

Revisions

USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.

What changedFromToWhen
longitude-121.72-121.72
latitude47.6947.69
depth16.4516.4
magnitude1.161.24

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.