M1.6 earthquake 8 km SW of Morton, Washington
A magnitude 1.6 earthquake struck 8 km SW of Morton, Washington on Thu, Sep 20, 1979, 6:41 AM PDT (13:41 UTC), 20 km (13 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M2.6 17 km SSE of Carbonado, 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
- 1979-09-20 13:41:12 UTC
- Depth
- 20.3 km (12.6 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 46.507° N, 122.350° 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 0.4 km horizontally, 0.5 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.07
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 118°
- Stations used
- 11
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 1.537 km SSE of Morton, Washington · 17146 days ago · 6 km deep · 35 km away
- 1.611 km SSE of Mossyrock, Washington · 17142 days ago · 16 km deep · 9 km away
- 2.617 km SSE of Carbonado, Washington · 17126 days ago · 9 km deep · 57 km away
- 1.512 km NE of Ashford, Washington · 17120 days ago · 7 km deep · 49 km away
- 1.512 km SW of Alder, Washington · 17120 days ago · -1 km deep · 25 km away
- 1.63 km WSW of Federal Way, Washington · 17116 days ago · 54 km deep · 89 km away
- 2.038 km NNE of Amboy, Washington · 17114 days ago · -1 km deep · 35 km away
- 1.50 km WNW of Pacific, Washington · 17111 days ago · 15 km deep · 85 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayWashington earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event uw10850693. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 4:16 PM UTC.