Washington earthquakes

M1.5 earthquake 4 km WSW of Alger, Washington

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake struck 4 km WSW of Alger, Washington on Tue, Nov 27, 1979, 2:49 AM PST (10:49 UTC), 4 km (2 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M2.5 16 km SE of Friday Harbor, Washington. This one was a foreshock.

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Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
1.5 (md), micro
Local time
UTC
1979-11-27 10:49:30 UTC
Depth
4.0 km (2.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter
48.604° N, 122.395° W
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 4.9 km horizontally, 9.9 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.09
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
261°, poorly surrounded by stations
Stations used
5

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 13 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 2.516 km SE of Friday Harbor, Washington · 17100 days ago · 54 km deep · 41 km away
  2. 2.16 km SE of Edison, Washington · 17100 days ago · 18 km deep · 10 km away
  3. 2.22 km E of Edison, Washington · 17094 days ago · 25 km deep · 4 km away
  4. 1.74 km ESE of Edison, Washington · 17082 days ago · 22 km deep · 7 km away
  5. 1.56 km NNW of Port Townsend, Washington · 17073 days ago · 21 km deep · 57 km away
  6. 1.81 km WNW of Oak Harbor, Washington · 17068 days ago · 33 km deep · 39 km away
  7. 1.53 km W of Fobes Hill, Washington · 17049 days ago · 21 km deep · 75 km away

Before

  1. 1.53 km ESE of Edison, Washington · 17101 days ago · 18 km deep · 6 km away
  2. 1.83 km ENE of Edison, Washington · 17101 days ago · 15 km deep · 4 km away
  3. 1.64 km SE of Edison, Washington · 17101 days ago · 20 km deep · 8 km away
  4. 3.53 km E of Edison, Washington · 17101 days ago · 12 km deep · 5 km away
  5. 1.63 km W of Alger, Washington · 17101 days ago · 17 km deep · 2 km away
  6. 2.42 km SE of Edison, Washington · 17101 days ago · 8 km deep · 6 km away
  7. 3.84 km E of Edison, Washington · 17101 days ago · 15 km deep · 5 km away
  8. 3.612 km NNW of Mission, Canada · 17113 days ago · 15 km deep · 71 km away
  9. 1.54 km SSE of Woods Creek, Washington · 17117 days ago · 9 km deep · 93 km away
  10. 2.03 km SSE of Priest Point, Washington · 17117 days ago · 22 km deep · 67 km away
  11. 1.62 km N of Hansville, Washington · 17120 days ago · 43 km deep · 75 km away
  12. 1.83 km E of Hamilton, Washington · 17126 days ago · 3 km deep · 35 km away
  13. 2.40 km WSW of Tulalip Bay, Washington · 17129 days ago · 29 km deep · 64 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event uw10851383. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 5:17 AM UTC.