3.7-magnitude earthquake shakes Seattle, Puget Sound

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Image of the intensity map from the 3.7-magnitude earthquake that struck northwestern Washington on Thursday. Photo courtesy of US Geological Survey

Sept. 8 (UPI) — A 3.7-magnitude earthquake shook northwestern Washington state early Thursday, waking thousands in the Puget Sound area. There were no early reports of damage or injuries.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake’s epicenter was 4.5 miles west-northwest of Lofall, Wash., at a depth of 14.6 miles that occurred just after midnight.

More than 2,300 people told the USGS they felt the quake in Seattle as well as Poulsbo, Port Ludlow and Kingston.

The epicenter lay just north of the Seattle Fault line, where a magnitude 7.5 earthquake could trigger a tsunami that could hit Seattle.

A July study by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources warned that residents should be prepared for a potential earthquake, even though a major tremor has not hit the area in about 1,100 years.

Despite that, Washington state has the second-highest earthquake risk in the United States, along with having one of the highest tsunami risks, according to the Washington Emergency Management Division.

“The risk is complicated, but there are millions of people who live in the Seattle area,” Corina Forson, Washington’s chief hazards geologist for the Washington Geological Survey, told KING-TV.

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