Week gets off to shaky start, as series of quakes rattle northwestern Washington
The week got off to a shaky start, as the United States Geological Survey reported the Puget Sound region was rattled by three small earthquakes Sunday night and early Monday.
The closest to Whatcom County, was a 2.2-magnitude quake that struck at 10:39 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 27, beneath Whidbey Island, according to USGS updates. The epicenter was approximately 13.7 miles beneath the surface, according to the USGS, and located approximately 3.3 miles northeast of Oak Harbor — less than 30 miles south southwest of downtown Bellingham, according to googlemaps.com.
The largest of the three quakes — a 2.9-magnitude shaker, initially reported as a 3.1 — struck at 2:41 a.m. Monday, Dec. 28, beneath southern Snohomish County, according to USGS updates. The epicenter also was approximately 13.7 miles beneath the surface, according to the USGS, and located approximately 1.9 miles north northeast of Echo Lake — less than 70 miles south southeast of Bellingham, according to googlemaps.com.
The last and smallest of the three quakes — a 1.4-magnitude temblor, initially reported as a 2.2 — struck at 3:32 a.m. Monday also in southern Snohomish County, less than a mile northwest from the epicenter of the 2:41 a.m. event. The 3:32 a.m. quake was located approximately 13 miles beneath the earth’s surface.
No damage was reported from any of the three quakes. Nobody reported feeling the the first and third quakes on the USGS’ “Did You Feel It?” web page as of Monday morning, but 94 people did report feeling the 2:41 a.m. quake — most in Snohomish County, though one person east of downtown Vancouver, B.C., told the USGS they felt it.
Quakes of less than magnitude 3.0 are common, and tens of thousands are reported worldwide every year, according to the USGS.
A quake of magnitude 1.0 to 3.0 is not felt except by a very few under especially favorable conditions, according to the USGS.
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This story was originally published December 28, 2020 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Week gets off to shaky start, as series of quakes rattle northwestern Washington."
