PORT LUDLOW, Wash. — The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported a 3.7 magnitude earthquake in Jefferson County early Thursday morning.
According to the USGS, the earthquake happened at 1:08 a.m. Thursday at a depth of about 14.6 miles, 8.6 miles northwest of Poulsbo.
Residents in Jefferson County, Kitsap County, and even as far as Seattle and Bothell reportedly felt the small rumble.
KING 5 viewer Matt in Hansville said he felt one quick jolt as if something hit his house.
"I lived in Southern California for some years, made me think of all the tremblers I used to feel when I lived in Oxnard," Matt said.
Another viewer, Catherine, said she felt a small rumble in Bothell and that it rattled cabinet doors and woke her up in the middle of the night.
The National Weather Service Seattle office, located north of Magnuson Park, also reported feeling a small rumble.
There were no immediate reports of damage. Did you feel the earthquake? Let us know.
The earthquake happened just north of the Seattle Fault line. According to a study released in July, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake on the Seattle Fault could trigger a tsunami that would only take minutes to reach the greater Seattle area.
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources released the study on July 7 and urged Seattleites to be prepared, even though the last known earthquake on the Seattle Fault occurred about 1,100 years ago.
The most recent earthquake was powerful enough to move the beach at Restoration Point on Bainbridge Island upward by 23 feet and dropped land at Seattle's West Point by 3 feet.
For more information and resources, visit dnr.wa.gov/tsunami.
Washington state has the second-highest earthquake risk in the United States, along with having one of the highest tsunami risks, according to the Washington Emergency Management Division (EMD).
Last year, the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System was activated in Washington state. The system sends residents an automated alert on their mobile phones, providing valuable seconds of warning to take cover before the shaking from an earthquake reaches their location.
As the ground begins to shake, the ShakeAlert system is designed to detect the earthquake close to the epicenter. As the seismic waves spread from the epicenter, they are picked up by seismic stations operated by the PNSN, which provides real-time data to the ShakeAlert system.
There are two ways to receive the early warning alerts now that the ShakeAlert system is live: The Wireless Emergency Alert system and your phone’s built-in software.
While most phones already have “Emergency Alerts” or “Public Safety” alerts already turned on, the state EMD asked the public to check their mobile phone to see if Wireless Emergency Alerts are turned on.
While the system is designed to give residents time to take cover in the event of an earthquake, it cannot predict when an earthquake will strike.
Join KING 5’s Disaster Preparedness Facebook group and learn how you and your community can get ready for when disaster strikes.
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