OLGA, Wash. — If you felt some shaking while you were making your Monday morning coffee, you weren’t imagining things. People across western Washington felt it, too.
At 5:02 a.m., a 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck near the town of Olga on Orcas Island, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN). The preliminary magnitude was 4.6.
Of course, people who live on Orcas Island or on other islands in the San Juans felt the most severe effects of the quake.
Orcas Island viewer Jennie Joplin called KOMO News and said it felt like a tree fell on her house, but then she heard from KOMO News it was an earthquake.
“At 5:03 or so this morning our house shook like it had been hit by an 80 mph gust of wind. The walls made loud cracking sounds, and the whole house moved with the ground in about 10 seconds of big jerks,” said Lopez Island viewer Holly Lovejoy.
KOMO News received calls from people who felt it in Concrete, Coupeville, Bellingham and other cities. On Facebook, people from Blaine, Edmonds, Silverdale, Woodinville, Burlington, Sequim, Snoqualmie, Bow, Lynden, Monroe, Lummi and many more areas reported feeling the earthquake.
“I was in my heavy recliner, it was like a carnival ride,” viewer Coni Jones said on Facebook.
“It was terribly frightening! We live on Orcas Island, right across the water from the epicenter,” a post from Candace Carter E. Roseberry said.
“I live by the base on Whidbey Island, and my entire house shook, and my neighbor’s dogs were barking. Being from the Midwest, I do not like earthquakes,” said Theresa Farage.
The United States Geological Survey said the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) System was activated, but only people within a certain range of the quake would have received alerts on their phones. ShakeAlert detects significant earthquakes quickly enough to warn people potentially seconds before strong shaking arrives.
ShakeAlert is the only public EEW system in the U.S. and serves 50 million people in Washington, Oregon, and California. To receive EEW alerts, you must sign up for the service. Find out how at this link.
There have been no reports of injuries, and no tsunami is expected.
If you felt the earthquake, PNSN wants to know.
