QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.0ml

Earthquake near Ames Lake, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in Ames Lake in the 24 hours to 8:35 pm PST (04:35 UTC). The last one was M 4.2, 62 km (39 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 Ames Lake

This page: a magnitude 1.0 earthquake was recorded in Ames Lake, WA, at 6:18 pm PDT on 29 October 2026 (01:18 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 1 km E of Ames Lake, Washington

8 km (5 mi) ENE of Sammamish, WA · 30 km (19 mi) E of Seattle, WA

6:18 pm PDT, Oct 29, 2026 · · 17 km deep · released about 0.95 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ames Lake Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N King County 18 kmSnohomish County 49 kmKitsap County 53 kmPierce County 66 kmIsland County 80 kmSkagit County 96 kmMason County 97 kmThurston County 102 kmChelan County 103 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
6:18 pm PDT on 29 October 2026 ()
Where
in Ames Lake, WA · earthquakes near Ames Lake
Magnitude
M 1.0 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
King County, 18 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Rattlesnake Mountain fault, under 1 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 12 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, Lake Marcel-Stillwater, City of Sammamish, Union Hill-Novelty Hill, Klahanie, Fall City.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.95 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 16,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.0 about 0.95 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 230,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.7 1 km ENE of Dash Point, Washington · 49 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 8 km NNE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 15 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 9 km NE of Lake Marcel-Stillwater, Washington · 16 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 4 km ENE of Machias, Washington · 41 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 3 km WSW of Des Moines, Washington · 41 km SW 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 47.6308, -121.9483. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
King County, WA 18 km (11 mi) SSE earthquakes near King County
Snohomish County, WA 49 km (31 mi) NNE earthquakes near Snohomish County
Kitsap County, WA 53 km (33 mi) W earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 66 km (41 mi) SSW earthquakes near Pierce County
Island County, WA 80 km (49 mi) NW earthquakes near Island County
Skagit County, WA 96 km (60 mi) N earthquakes near Skagit County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 18 km ENE of Tanner, Washington
  2. 1.5 12 km NNE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  3. 0.6 7 km ESE of Carnation, Washington
  4. 1.1 10 km E of Carnation, Washington
  5. 1.1 2 km NNW of Mirrormont, Washington
  6. 1.0 0 km ESE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  7. 1.0 10 km NE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  8. 1.6 5 km S of Lake Morton-Berrydale, Washington
  9. 1.6 11 km NE of Snoqualmie, Washington
  10. 0.9 7 km E of Hobart, Washington
  11. 1.2 2 km ENE of May 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.

On USGS

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