M1.7 earthquake 11 km NNE of North Saanich, Canada
A magnitude 1.7 earthquake struck 11 km NNE of North Saanich, Canada on Wed, Apr 15, 1981, 8:52 PM PST (04:52 UTC), 14 km (9 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M2.4 3 km ENE of Sedro-Woolley, Washington. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 1.7 (md), micro
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-04-16 04:52:19 UTC
- Depth
- 14.5 km (9.0 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 48.757° N, 123.341° W
- Region
- Canada
- 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 0.2 km horizontally, 0.2 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.26
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 234°, poorly surrounded by stations
- Stations used
- 12
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 5 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 2.43 km ENE of Sedro-Woolley, Washington · 16593 days ago · 3 km deep · 88 km away
- 1.56 km SSE of Alger, Washington · 16592 days ago · 10 km deep · 78 km away
- 2.413 km WSW of Ault Field, Washington · 16568 days ago · 29 km deep · 64 km away
- 2.06 km NNE of Port Townsend, Washington · 16567 days ago · 21 km deep · 79 km away
- 1.712 km WNW of Langford, Canada · 16549 days ago · 19 km deep · 37 km away
- 1.911 km NE of Oak Bay, Canada · 16542 days ago · 35 km deep · 30 km away
Before
- 1.69 km ESE of Salt Spring Island, Canada · 16600 days ago · 20 km deep · 3 km away
- 1.68 km WNW of Alger, Washington · 16601 days ago · -1 km deep · 67 km away
- 1.9Washington · 16608 days ago · 2 km deep · 89 km away
- 2.24 km S of Coupeville, Washington · 16610 days ago · 25 km deep · 80 km away
- 2.47 km SSE of Coupeville, Washington · 16617 days ago · 25 km deep · 84 km away
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Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event uw10104168. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 8:03 AM UTC.