3 small earthquakes shake east King County

FALL CITY, Wash. — Three small earthquakes in 24 hours rattled people in east King County.

The quakes struck Wednesday night, overnight and again Thursday morning.

"I felt like a bear ran into my house, I mean ran into the side of the house. The whole house moved, and me and the dog jumped," said Jeff Venturo, of Snoqualmie.

The first quake struck after 7 p.m. Wednesday, with a magnitude of 3.4.

At 4 a.m. Thursday, people felt a 3.0 magnitude quake, and at 7 a.m., there was a 2.5 magnitude quake.

There were no reports of damage, but about 1,300 people reported to the U.S. Geological Survey website that they felt the first quake.

The earthquakes struck about 10 miles down and were centered outside Fall City, in an area where several earthquakes have struck in the last year.

“I wouldn't say there's any reason to be unduly concerned that these are a harbinger of something bigger happening. Anytime we have an earthquake, there's a possibility of aftershocks, and there's a possibility that an aftershock can actually be larger," said Harold Tobin, of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

Tobin said the locations of the quakes are near the convergence of the South Whidbey Island and Seattle fault zones.

Tobin said the earthquake early warning system now under development did detect the 3.4 quake.

The system is designed to give a short warning before the ground actually shakes.

The public is not yet getting earthquake alerts, but Tobin expects that will change next October with the launch of a new phone app.

In 2018, KIRO 7 investigated delays with implementing the earthquake early warning system.

Follow this link for how to build a preparedness kit from University of Washington Emergency Management.

https://www.washington.edu/uwem/preparedness/build-a-kit/

[ Earthquake insurance: Here's what you need to know ]

[ Seattle earthquakes: A recap of earthquakes from 1700-2019 ]

[ What to do during an earthquake ]

[ What is recommended for an earthquake preparedness kit? ]

[ Earthquake in Southern California raises concerns about ‘The Big One’ in Washington ]

[ New simulations show how the 'big one' could play out in Seattle ]

[ Study: Dozens of public school buildings wouldn’t be safe after an earthquake ]

© 2019 Cox Media Group