Washington earthquakes

M1.6 earthquake 3 km NNE of Waterville, Washington

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake struck 3 km NNE of Waterville, Washington on Sat, Jan 17, 1981, 1:27 PM PST (21:27 UTC), 3 km (2 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M1.7 21 km ENE of Moses Lake, Washington. This one was a foreshock.

Waterville forecastMore in Washington

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude
1.6 (md), micro
Local time
UTC
1981-01-17 21:27:31 UTC
Depth
3.0 km (1.9 mi), shallow
Epicenter
47.681° N, 120.059° 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 0.4 km horizontally, 2.1 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.12
Depth from
From location
Station coverage gap
153°
Stations used
6

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 13 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 1.721 km ENE of Moses Lake, Washington · 16679 days ago · 0 km deep · 96 km away
  2. 1.63 km E of Cle Elum, Washington · 16657 days ago · 7 km deep · 83 km away
  3. 2.62 km E of Cle Elum, Washington · 16656 days ago · 5 km deep · 83 km away
  4. 1.53 km ENE of Cle Elum, Washington · 16655 days ago · 0 km deep · 82 km away
  5. 4.23 km E of Cle Elum, Washington · 16653 days ago · 3 km deep · 83 km away
  6. 2.02 km E of Cle Elum, Washington · 16653 days ago · -1 km deep · 83 km away
  7. 2.1Washington · 16652 days ago · 0 km deep · 93 km away
  8. 2.024 km ESE of Waterville, Washington · 16648 days ago · 6 km deep · 25 km away
  9. 2.77 km NE of Royal City, Washington · 16643 days ago · 0 km deep · 90 km away
  10. 2.83 km E of Cle Elum, Washington · 16641 days ago · -1 km deep · 82 km away
  11. 2.94 km E of Cle Elum, Washington · 16636 days ago · -1 km deep · 82 km away
  12. 2.67 km NE of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington · 16632 days ago · 7 km deep · 100 km away
  13. 1.78 km WSW of George, Washington · 16626 days ago · 0 km deep · 71 km away

Before

  1. 2.014 km ENE of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington · 16701 days ago · 4 km deep · 91 km away
  2. 1.823 km NNW of Leavenworth, Washington · 16704 days ago · 13 km deep · 55 km away
  3. 1.75 km N of Waterville, Washington · 16713 days ago · 2 km deep · 3 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event uw10094883. Read Wed, Sep 23, 2026, 12:50 AM UTC.