TACOMA, Wash. — The largest earthquake to hit the Puget Sound region in more than a decade struck near Tacoma Monday.
The magnitude 3 quake hit just after noon.
There were no reports of damage, but a lot of people felt the shaking.
Bill Shoopman didn't feel the quake.
"Nope, the lights didn't shake, nothing," said Shoopman.
The news that the earth under the Port of Tacoma where Shoopman works moved came as a surprise to him.
"We didn't feel a thing!" Shoopman said.
The quake struck at 12:30 Monday afternoon about 5 miles north of Tacoma. It registered a magnitude 3, deep in the earth's crust, some 17 miles down.
"People did feel it, but not as many as usually would feel an earthquake of that size," said Dr. Paul Bodin. "And that's because the earthquake was pretty deep."
Bodin runs the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington. A stubby line on the seismometer was the first phase of the quake.
"And then somewhat later, the more slowly traveling as glades or shear waves and they're the ones that are larger and they often cause damage," said Bodin.
The most damaging and costliest earthquake this century was the Nisqually quake nearly 13 years ago. It measured a 6.8 magnitude. The last magnitude 3 quake in the South Sound was nearly 20 years ago.
Shoopman showed us the rods that went up after the Nisqually quake did so much damage here. Still, he doesn't look forward to it happening again.
"If it starts shaking I'm going outside," he said, laughing.
The experts say this is a good reminder that the big one really is coming.
And they still can't predict when it will hit.
KIRO
