QUILCENE — A small, 3.4-magnitude earthquake felt by about 60 people in the Quilcene-Brinnon area Thursday night is relatively rare, though not necessarily a portend of more temblors to come, a seismologist with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network said Saturday.
“It’s not very often we have one as big as 3.4,” said University of Washington seismologist John Vidale, director of the seismic network. “Perhaps one every year or two in the region.”
There were no reports of injuries or damage, but “my house just shook,” wrote one resident on Facebook following the quake at 11:55:51 p.m., according to the network.
“For magnitude 3.4, the chance of anything else afterward is fairly small,” Vidale said.
“Just the very slightly higher risk than normal.”
The U.S. Geological Survey’s “Did You Feel It?” website logged 58 people, mostly from East Jefferson County, who reported feeling light to moderate shaking from the earthquake.
Residents of Bremerton, Poulsbo and as far away as Seattle and Everett also reported feeling the quake, according to the USGS.
A 2.8-magnitude aftershock, recorded by the network at 4:57:07 a.m. Friday, reportedly was felt by 15 people, according to the USGS.
A swarm of about 30 micro-quakes, only detectable by sensitive seismic equipment, followed the larger temblors, according to the seismic network.
All of the quakes were between 11 and 12 miles beneath the surface of the ground and were in the southern Dabob Bay area, according to the network.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
