M1.9 earthquake 10 km NW of Orcas, Washington
A magnitude 1.9 earthquake struck 10 km NW of Orcas, Washington on Fri, Jul 20, 1979, 11:46 AM PDT (18:46 UTC), 9 km (5 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M2.7 6 km N of Jamestown, Washington. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 1.9 (md), micro
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-07-20 18:46:56 UTC
- Depth
- 8.7 km (5.4 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 48.660° N, 123.047° 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 0.8 km horizontally, 2.1 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.07
- Depth from
- From location
- Station coverage gap
- 221°, poorly surrounded by stations
- 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: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 6 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 1.53 km NE of Lake Ketchum, Washington · 17231 days ago · 2 km deep · 66 km away
- 1.65 km ENE of Acme, Washington · 17228 days ago · -1 km deep · 67 km away
- 1.5Washington · 17212 days ago · 13 km deep · 61 km away
- 1.57 km ESE of Deming, Washington · 17210 days ago · 0 km deep · 70 km away
- 2.76 km N of Jamestown, Washington · 17206 days ago · 50 km deep · 53 km away
- 1.717 km SSE of Glacier, Washington · 17179 days ago · 0 km deep · 91 km away
- 2.12 km ESE of Quilcene, Washington · 17178 days ago · 48 km deep · 96 km away
Before
- 1.57 km NW of Ault Field, Washington · 17242 days ago · 12 km deep · 37 km away
- 1.97 km SE of Hamilton, Washington · 17245 days ago · 4 km deep · 87 km away
- 1.53 km ENE of Carlsborg, Washington · 17247 days ago · 47 km deep · 62 km away
- 1.51 km NNW of Lofall, Washington · 17249 days ago · 20 km deep · 97 km away
- 2.04 km NNW of Deming, Washington · 17260 days ago · 11 km deep · 63 km away
- 1.715 km SSE of Friday Harbor, Washington · 17260 days ago · 47 km deep · 30 km away
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event uw10850243. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 11:27 PM UTC.