Three earthquakes rattle Washington within 28 hours, geologists say

Three minor earthquakes hit Washington’s Puget Sound region in just over a day and two of them hit the same city in 24 hours, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

The latest was a magnitude 3.0 earthquake that struck about 4 miles from Carnation around 6:35 a.m. Tuesday, the PNSN said. The United States Geological Survey recorded 315 people felt the shaking.

The PNSN recorded that a 2.2 earthquake hit the same city less than 24 hours earlier. It struck about 4.5 miles from Carnation at noon Monday, according to the agency. Forty-seven people reported they felt shaking from the earthquake, according to the USGS.

The first earthquake to hit the Puget Sound area in the last 28 hours happened about 3 miles from Monroe at 2:41 a.m. Monday, the PNSN reported. It was a 2.9 quake and 204 people reported feeling it, according to the USGS.

Washington earthquakes

The state’s Puget Sound area sits atop the North American tectonic land plate and the Juan de Fuca oceanic tectonic plate, which means earthquakes are a relatively common occurrence, The Seattle Times reported.

There have long been predictions of a magnitude 9.0-plus earthquake that will strike western Washington from the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a giant fault where the oceanic and land plates meet that’s more than 600 miles long, running from Cape Mendocino, through California, Oregon, and Washington to Vancouver Island, according to KING.

These plates reportedly cause a massive earthquake every 300 to 500 years after pressure between them slips, KING reported. The question surrounding what is commonly known as ‘the big one’ is not ‘if’ it will strike, but ‘when,’ according to KING.

Such a large-scale earthquake would likely cause widespread damage and trigger a tsunami, the station reported.

This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Three earthquakes rattle Washington within 28 hours, geologists say."