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COUPEVILLE -
A small earthquake centered near Coupeville and the Admiralty Inlet shook Western Washington residents early Wednesday morning.
The USGS estimates it was a 3.7 magnitude quake at about 5:09 am Wednesday. The University of Washington reports the quake under Whidbey Island came from the same zone that produced the 6.8 Nisqually quake in 2001.
UW Seismologist Bill Steele says the quake was located in the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, which is slipping under the North America plate. That interface has produced quakes of magnitude 7 or 8 about every 500 years. The last one was about 300 years ago.
The UW seismology lab reported it was centered about two miles southeast of Coupeville at a depth of 36 miles. Steele says the depth distributed the force, so it felt weak.
People living in the areas of Whidbey Island, Camano Island, as far east as Arlington and Lake Cavanaugh, and as far south as Lynnwood have reported feeling the shaking.
One man says he felt the earthquake in Orting -- about 100 miles away from the epicenter. Benye Weber from Coupeville says she's been through three or four earthquakes in the 45 years she's lived there, and this one felt the strongest. She says the items on her glass tabletop were jiggling.
The Island County Sheriff's Department says there are no reports of injuries or damage, but we have crews heading to the area just in case.
Here are the specifics on the epicenter:
2 miles ESE from Coupeville
6 miles S from Oak Harbor
8 miles W from Camano
39 miles ESE from Saanich, British Columbia, Canada
69 miles from Seattle
The USGS estimates it was a 3.7 magnitude quake at about 5:09 am Wednesday. The University of Washington reports the quake under Whidbey Island came from the same zone that produced the 6.8 Nisqually quake in 2001.
UW Seismologist Bill Steele says the quake was located in the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate, which is slipping under the North America plate. That interface has produced quakes of magnitude 7 or 8 about every 500 years. The last one was about 300 years ago.
The UW seismology lab reported it was centered about two miles southeast of Coupeville at a depth of 36 miles. Steele says the depth distributed the force, so it felt weak.
People living in the areas of Whidbey Island, Camano Island, as far east as Arlington and Lake Cavanaugh, and as far south as Lynnwood have reported feeling the shaking.
One man says he felt the earthquake in Orting -- about 100 miles away from the epicenter. Benye Weber from Coupeville says she's been through three or four earthquakes in the 45 years she's lived there, and this one felt the strongest. She says the items on her glass tabletop were jiggling.
The Island County Sheriff's Department says there are no reports of injuries or damage, but we have crews heading to the area just in case.
Here are the specifics on the epicenter:
2 miles ESE from Coupeville
6 miles S from Oak Harbor
8 miles W from Camano
39 miles ESE from Saanich, British Columbia, Canada
69 miles from Seattle
