M1.6 earthquake 12 km NW of Morton, Washington
A magnitude 1.6 earthquake struck 12 km NW of Morton, Washington on Fri, Dec 22, 1978, 11:59 PM PST (07:59 UTC), 9 km (6 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M3.4 Olympic Peninsula, Washington. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 1.6 (md), micro
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-12-23 07:59:19 UTC
- Depth
- 9.0 km (5.6 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 46.644° N, 122.372° W
- Region
- Washington
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 0.0 km horizontally, 0.0 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.09
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 101°
- Stations used
- 10
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.4Olympic Peninsula, Washington · 17435 days ago · 40 km deep · 95 km away
- 1.710 km SW of Packwood, Washington · 17426 days ago · 7 km deep · 47 km away
- 1.72 km S of Skokomish, Washington · 17414 days ago · 38 km deep · 95 km away
- 1.91 km WNW of Artondale, Washington · 17400 days ago · 16 km deep · 76 km away
- 1.517 km WSW of Easton, Washington · 17398 days ago · 3 km deep · 95 km away
- 1.75 km NNE of McCleary, Washington · 17395 days ago · 39 km deep · 82 km away
- 1.64 km ENE of Ashford, Washington · 17393 days ago · 10 km deep · 33 km away
- 1.85 km SW of Wilderness Rim, Washington · 17392 days ago · 16 km deep · 96 km away
- 2.26 km ESE of Maplewood, Washington · 17391 days ago · 8 km deep · 83 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayWashington earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event uw10848603. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 5:16 PM UTC.