QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Darrington, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Darrington in the 24 hours to 3:18 pm PST (23:18 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 74 km (46 mi) W, at 11:35 pm PDT on 1 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2,030 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Darrington

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Darrington, WA, at 9:41 am PDT on 17 October 2026 (16:41 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 22 km ESE of Darrington, Washington

96 km (60 mi) NE of Seattle, WA

9:41 am PDT, Oct 17, 2026 · · 12 km deep · released about 98 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Snohomish County 34 kmSkagit County 52 kmChelan County 63 kmKing County 83 kmWhatcom County 85 kmIsland County 99 kmKitsap County 113 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
9:41 am PDT on 17 October 2026 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Darrington, WA · earthquakes near Darrington
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Snohomish County, 34 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 26 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Darrington, 23 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 98 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 9.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 98 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.6 Near Marblemount, Washington · 39 km N 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 48.1542, -121.3370. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Snohomish County, WA 34 km (21 mi) WSW earthquakes near Snohomish County
Skagit County, WA 52 km (32 mi) NW earthquakes near Skagit County
Chelan County, WA 63 km (39 mi) ESE earthquakes near Chelan County
King County, WA 83 km (51 mi) SSW earthquakes near King County
Whatcom County, WA 85 km (53 mi) NNW earthquakes near Whatcom County
Island County, WA 99 km (61 mi) W earthquakes near Island 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. 1.3 4 km W of Darrington, Washington
  2. 1.0 8 km NW of Swede Heaven, Washington
  3. 1.2 2 km ENE of May Creek, Washington
  4. 1.0 5 km SW of Darrington, Washington
  5. 0.9 3 km ENE of Swede Heaven, 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.