A 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck Monday morning near the Orcas Island in northern Washington state.
The temblor occurred at about 5 a.m. and was centered near the Washington-Canada border, about 18 miles from Bellingham, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake had a depth of about 10 miles.
More than 6,000 people so far have reported to the USGS that they felt the quake.
The earthquake did not prompt a tsunami warning. It’s not yet known if the quake caused injuries or significant damage.
Earthquakes of this relatively small size are common in the Pacific Northwest, with most of them occurring out in the ocean.
The last big, “megathrust” earthquake in the region, along the 600-mile-long Cascadia Subduction Zone, was in 1700. Experts say the likelihood in the next 50 years of a “megathrust” on the whole fault is 10-22%.
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