A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck Wauna, a town near Port Orchard, Tuesday afternoon.
Tremors were reported in Seattle, Bremerton, Tacoma, Olympia and Issaquah, among other cities.
The earthquake occurred around 2:05 p.m., about 10 miles north-northeast of Port Orchard, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
KIRO Newsradio spoke with Taylor Van Cise, air quality communications manager for the Washington State Department of Ecology, who was able to feel the earthquake in Lacey.
“It felt like someone had bumped into my chair and then someone had gotten angry in the cafe behind me,” Van Cise said. “I stuck my head out my office door and saw about 10 other people doing the same thing. All these heads started popping up, looking around. ‘Did we all feel that?’ Sure enough, we did.
“A lot of us here probably remember what happened in 2001 with the Nisqually earthquake,” Van Cise added. “It wasn’t that bad, but it was definitely noticeable and it interrupted the work day.”
Did you feel it? Thousands reported earthquake in minutes
Authorities measured the earthquake at a depth of about 16.7 miles.
More than 6,000 people reported feeling the earthquake, with the majority of reports describing the intensity as “weak” or “mild.”
The USGS determined the earthquake had a 99% chance of being a “low probability of casualties and damage.”
The agency also estimated that about 5.2 million people lived in areas that experienced “weak” shaking.
Seattle felt most of the earthquake, with more than 3.4 million people believed to have been exposed.
The USGS estimated a 37% chance of an aftershock of magnitude 3 or greater occurring within the next week, and an 8% chance of an aftershock of magnitude 4 or greater.
Tremors and a “deep growl” rattle reside at home
Maxine Frost, the wife of KIRO Newsradio news director Frank Lenzi, described her experience of the earthquake in her home.
“It was a combination of massive shaking and this sound, like a deep growl; it was terrifying,” Frost said. “I thought a helicopter was landing on the house, or maybe a huge truck was pulling into our driveway, but the street was empty. Well, it must have been an earthquake; what else could it be? Yes, it was actually an earthquake. I wasn’t losing my mind.”
Frost was asked if the earthquake caused damage around his home.
“Nothing really fell, but something, everything was shaking above me,” she said. “That’s why I thought something was landing on the roof. I could hear the ceiling fan banging; the bed was shaking. I was sitting on the bed and it felt like I was on a boat. It lasted for about seven seconds and I was trying to think about what I would do if the roof had collapsed or something.”
Noise disturbances from public transport
In response to the earthquake, Sound Transit Line 1 trains are sharing a track at Angle Lake Station until further notice due to seismic activity.
All trains will board the platform for Federal Way Downtown.
Stay informed about earthquakes in the region with the MyNorthwest Earthquake tracker.
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