Did you feel the two earthquakes within 17 miles of Mount Baker’s summit last night?
A pair of smaller earthquakes rattled northern Skagit County last night, each within 17 miles of Mount Baker’s summit. The two quakes struck within 90 minutes and two miles of each other.
The first quake initially was measured with a 3.3 magnitude, but that has since been adjusted to 2.8, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s web page on the quake. It struck at 11:50 p.m. Sunday, April 25, approximately 5.4 north-northeast of Lyman, or approximately 12.1 miles east-northeast of Sedro-Woolley and 24.4 miles east-southeast of Bellingham.
The quake was measured 2.5 kilometers beneath the earth’s surface, and as of Monday morning, 18 people had reported feeling it on the USGS’ “Did You Feel It?” web page, including one in Bellingham and one in Blaine.
The second quake was measured with a 2.9 magnitude and struck at 1:12 a.m. Monday, April 26, according to the USGS’s web page on the quake. It struck 3.6 miles north-northwest of Hamilton, or approximately 11.6 miles east-northeast of Sedro-Woolley and 25.5 miles east-southeast of Bellingham.
The quake was measured near the surface, according to the USGS, and as of Monday morning, seven people had reported feeling it, including one in Bellingham.
No damage was reported from either quake.
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 Pacific Northwest Seismic Network is preparing for next month’s launch of ShakeAlert phone app in Washington, which should provide early warning about earthquakes in the region. The app is set to launch May 4, and according to tweets by the seismic network, it will host a webinar Thursday, April 29, to show how the app works, and a Q&A on May 4 with presentations from scientists, emergency managers and Washington State Department of Natural Resources geologists. More information about the alerts and the rollout events are available on the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network Facebook page.
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