Early morning earthquake rattles San Juan Islands near Bellingham; no damage reported
A moderate earthquake in the San Juan Islands jostled Whatcom County residents awake early Monday, rattling dishes and triggering an app-based warning system.
Monday’s quake was at 5:02 a.m. and registered at a magnitude 4.5 at a depth of 10 miles. It was a moderate event, said J. Renate Hartog, manager of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network and an affiliate associate professor with the Earth and Space Sciences Department at the University of Washington.
It was centered on Orcas Island about 18 miles west of downtown Bellingham. No tsunami warning was issued, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said online.
“(The earthquake) was caught by the ShakeAlert early warning system, and its magnitude allowed for alerts to be sent to phone apps, such as MyShake or Android. This event seems to have been widely felt,” Hartog told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
“It was too small for the Wireless Emergency Alerts system (used for Amber Alerts), because that is meant for imminent threat and an magnitude 4.5 is too small to cause any real damage,” Hartog said.
In Sudden Valley, phones with the earthquake apps sounded an electronic warning and announced “Earthquake! Take cover!” as tabletop knickknacks rattled.
No immediate damage was reported online and the Pulse Point emergency services app showed no quake-related calls.
Six hours after the quake, about 10,000 people reported that they felt it via the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Did you feel it?” reporting tool.
This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 6:31 AM.
