Whatcom County’s earthquake Saturday afternoon part of busy seismic weekend in region
A 2.3-magnitude earthquake Saturday afternoon underneath Whatcom County was one of five small quakes to shake the region over the weekend.
Seismometers recorded the quake at approximately 3:06 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The epicenter was 4.3 miles north of Deming and 11.1 miles east southeast of Lynden, near the head of Smith Creek, according to the USGS. That’s approximately 15 miles northeast of downtown Bellingham.
It was centered 14.2 kilometers (8.8 miles) below the earth’s surface, according to the USGS’ webpage on the quake.
Though that quake was approximately 20 miles from the summit of Mount Baker, another, smaller quake nearly 20 hours earlier was quite a bit closer to Whatcom’s stratovolcano.
That quake, which measured in with a magnitude of 1.2, hit at approximately 8:54 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, according to the USGS webpage on the quake. That epicenter was relatively shallow, as it was measured 0.7 km beneath the surface, and according to googlemaps.com, it was approximately three miles west of Mount Baker’s peak.
Elsewhere around the region, the USGS reported:
▪ A 1.5-magnitude earthquake that struck at 3:05 a.m. Saturday underneath Whidbey Island — approximately 29 miles south southeast of downtown Bellingham, according to googlemaps.com.
▪ A 1.7-magnitude earthquake that struck at 10:45 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, underneath Whidbey Island, approximately 2.8 miles northeast of Oak Harbor — approximately 30 miles south southwest of downtown Bellingham, according to googlemaps.com.
▪ A 2.4-magnitude earthquake that struck at 3:50 p.m. Sunday in Canadian waters 6.7 miles east northeast of North Saanich, B.C. off the east coast of Moresby Island — approximately 36 miles west of downtown Bellingham, according to googlemaps.com.
No damage was associated with any of the quakes, and the only quake that people have reported feeling on the USGS’ “Did You Feel It?” web page as of Monday, Oct. 19, was the North Saanich quake, which was felt by five Canadians.
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.
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