We all endured Whatcom’s record heat Sunday, but did you feel the quake this morning?
Sunday’s record-setting heat in Whatcom County and the evening lightning show off to the west may not be the only reasons to blame for a poor night’s sleep last night, as Whatcom County started the work week with a small earthquake.
A 2.2-magnitude quake struck at 5:08 a.m. Monday, Aug. 17 east of Ferndale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake struck approximately 12 hours after a new record high for Aug. 16 of 90 degrees was set at Bellingham International Airport at 4:44 p.m., according to the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Seattle. Sunday’s new record was one degree warmer than the previous record for the date set in 1967 — the fifth time a record high has been recorded at the airport in 2020 (Jan. 3 and May 8-10).
Sunday marked the first time the temperature at the airport reached the 90-degree since July 29, 2018, and the high temperature was 18 degrees warmer than the average for the date of 72 degrees, according to National Weather Service records, though the overnight low of 54 was only one degree warmer than normal. Whatcom residents also were treated to a lightning show over western portions of the county at approximately 9 p.m. Sunday.
Meanwhile, Monday’s earthquake epicenter was approximately 2.2 miles east northeast of Ferndale and 6.9 miles north northwest of Bellingham, the USGS reports. The exact location of the epicenter was just west of Northwest Drive near where it crosses Tenmile creek north of West Axton Road, according to googlemaps.com.
The quake was measured 16.3 kilometers (10.1 miles) beneath the surface, the USGS reported on the webpage for the quake.
No injuries or damage were reported and nobody had reported feeling the shaking as of Monday morning on the USGS’ “Did You Feel It?” web page.
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.
The only other recent seismic activity in Whatcom County reported by the USGS was a 1.6-magnitude earthquake early Wednesday, Aug. 12, east of Lake Whatcom.
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This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 7:56 AM.
