California is known for its earthquakes, but anyone who looks at a map that shows the plate structure of the earth will see that the entire West Coast of the United States sites on a seam between two plates. Thus, a Seattle earthquake should surprise no one.
A 4.6 magnitude quake on Friday morning reminded people of this. The earthquake, at 5:25 AM was centered 14 miles northwest of Seattle near Kingston, in Kitsap County. The U.S. Geological Survey reported it as a 4.6-magnitude quake, but the University of Washington report on the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network listed it at 4.5.
According to Wikipedia:
The Seattle Fault is a zone of multiple shallow east-west thrust faults that cross the Puget Sound Lowland and through Seattle, in the US State of Washington, in the vicinity of Interstate 90.
The Seattle fault is believed to be capable of generating an earthquake of at least 7.0 on the Richter scale. Friday's quake should serve as a reminder to residents: while they do not face activity in the numbers that California residents do, they need to be prepared in case on a major one.
There were no reports of damage or injuries in Friday's Seattle earthquake.
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