QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near McCleary, WA

No earthquake was likely felt in McCleary in the 24 hours to 9:46 pm PST (05:46 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 6 km (4 mi) NE, at 12:53 pm PST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near McCleary

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) northeast of McCleary, WA, at 12:53 pm PST on 6 November 2026 (20:53 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 5 km NE of McCleary, Washington

87 km (54 mi) SW of Seattle, WA · 25 km (16 mi) WNW of Olympia, WA

12:53 pm PST, Nov 6, 2026 · · -0.2 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mason County 28 kmThurston County 35 kmGrays Harbor County 46 kmPacific County 74 kmKitsap County 74 kmPierce County 81 kmJefferson County 82 kmLewis County 86 kmWahkiakum County 91 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
12:53 pm PST on 6 November 2026 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) northeast of McCleary, WA · earthquakes near McCleary
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mason County, 28 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Olympia structure, 14 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 3 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In McCleary, 6 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Shelton, Elma, Olympia, Tumwater.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 4.1 on 2017-02-23 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 2001 Nisqually, Washington Earthquake · 38 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 4 km WNW of Roy, Washington · 48 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 Puget Sound region, Washington · 49 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 Puget Sound area, Washington · 32 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 8 km N of Satsop, Washington · 19 km W 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 47.0965, -123.2195. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mason County, WA 28 km (18 mi) N earthquakes near Mason County
Thurston County, WA 35 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Thurston County
Grays Harbor County, WA 46 km (29 mi) W earthquakes near Grays Harbor County
Pacific County, WA 74 km (46 mi) SW earthquakes near Pacific County
Kitsap County, WA 74 km (46 mi) NE earthquakes near Kitsap County
Pierce County, WA 81 km (50 mi) E earthquakes near Pierce County

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

Aftershocks so far

1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.2 11 km S of Shelton, 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.